Dance 'Round the Memory Tree
by picimadar
Summary: Story arc of songfics. When Heero chooses to leave Earth behind, he misses out on more than he could have imagined. Now, he fights to regain the humanity he thought he lost, as well as the love of the woman he could never leave again.
1. Dance 'Round the Memory Tree

A/N: Here's a little songfic I wrote. The idea was in my head for a while. It's not too long, a little language but nothing a 13 year old hasn't heard before.

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and the song "Dance 'Round the Memory Tree" do not belong to me. I use them both purely to share their awesome with others. Oren Lavie is the original artist of the song, I recommend checking them out!

Please read and review!

-picimadar

Dance 'Round the Memory Tree

_Words we have said  
Grew in my head  
Colored my thoughts  
Sang me to bed_

_

* * *

_Relena tried to stay away. The family home had belonged to people she barely remembered, a past that had been locked away so long it was hard to tell what she really did recall, and what was just her mind trying to fill in the blanks. The palace was nearly empty, long white sheets draped over what remained of the furniture, what hadn't been destroyed in the fire.

The walls had been repainted, repaired, and in some places rebuilt, bringing the decrepit building back to its original splendor, an enormous, unique palace wedged between the ocean and the forests of Sanq, the mansion that had once housed Relena, her parents, and her brother.

Now it was empty, and she felt sorry. The space went unused, abandoned for 364 days of the year. The one other day, she was there, waiting.

The night slowly came, and Relena headed up the grand foyer stairs to prepare for bed. Alone in the house, she had given her guards the slip, bringing only a change of clothes and a few personal items. One of these was a small, plush teddy bear, which she pulled out of her bag as she sat down on the large bed in what had once been her parents' room. At 20, she may have been seen as too old or even strange for hanging onto the bear, but those who knew her understood that it went beyond the typical childhood sentimentality.

She tried to stay away, but year after year, she failed.

Setting the bear down, she pulled off her green pullover sweater and jeans, undid the loose braid in her hair, slipped into her favorite pair of flannel pajamas, and climbed into bed. That night she dreamed one seamless dream, filled with promises, regret, hope and longing.

_Lost memories  
Grew into trees  
Covered the doors  
Swallowed the keys

* * *

_

The next morning she awoke, feeling more rested than she had in months. The night's dreams had settled her, assuring her she had made the right choice. Sitting up, she fixed her hair slowly, and considered what to do with her day. Alone and somewhat isolated, Relena smiled. The house was nearly silent, the only noise the steady pounding of the ocean against the rock nearby and the calls of a few seabirds searching for their breakfast.

Thinking of breakfast, the young woman's stomach growled, and she threw her legs over the side of the bed. Padding down the servants' stairs to the kitchen, she looted through the cupboards and fridge, checking that the delivery of goods she had ordered had indeed arrived. Seeing everything was in order, Relena put a pan on the stovetop and popped a few slices of rustic, homemade bread into the toaster. A few local families supplied her with the small bit of produce she needed for her short stay, and she appreciated not having to involve anyone too public with her needs.

Sitting down at the small kitchen table, she ate slowly, savoring the meal she had made and reading a novel she had brought with her.

After breakfast, she cleaned herself up, taking a long, hot shower and changing into clean clothes. The day was warm, summer just beginning, and she dressed accordingly, a sleeveless top and a pair of khaki capri pants appearing from her bag. She decided to spend her day in the sun, trying to get a little colour she otherwise missed sitting inside at her office job.

Opening one of the large back doors, she stepped out onto a beautiful patio headed into the facing woods. Anyone would worry about getting lost in amongst the thick trees, but Relena had traveled the path she followed now every summer for years. Knowing exactly where she was headed, she continued her hike, passing small herds of deer, a few young fawns among them, playful and carefree. Smiling to herself, she continued on her way.

The hours passed, and eventually she reached a small clearing, a few large and out-of-place trees growing amongst what had obviously once been a small farmer's field. A small home still stood, built from stone and nestled at the edge of the denser part of the forest. Relena crossed the clearing to the cottage, admiring the trees surrounding her. They had grown since the last time she had visited, even though they were decades old, some over fifty.

Reaching the house, she put down the small backpack she had brought, ate a small, simple lunch, and fell asleep, mesmerized by the dappling sun between the leaves of the trees her parents had once planted.

A few hours later, night loomed, the twilight spreading over the forest. Waking slowly, Relena took her bag and opened the door to the cottage, closing it behind her. Fumbling in the dark for a few moments, she pulled a flashlight from her bag and looked around the tiny, one-room building. Finding the fireplace, she built a small fire, bringing in some wood from outside and using a magazine she'd read on the flight over to tinder it. Once it began warming the room, Relena lit a few candles and a small oil lamp.

Relena smiled again, her stresses dissipating the longer she stayed away from her office, the strain of dealing with the everyday, mundane things she did. Living so simply, off the grid, free from bodyguards, assassins, reporters and senators, Relena had a renewed sense of calm.

Even still, when the door swung open, she jumped. She wasn't sure why, she had known he would come, just as he had every year for the past three. Even still, she turned quickly to face the door, putting down the matchbox she held in her hand.

_Winters have come and gone_  
_You know_  
_Winters have come and gone_  
_You know_  
_But I'll meet you young and free_  
_For a dance 'round the memory tree

* * *

_

Heero Yuy stood there, staring at her just as she stared at him, the same look of near surprise, mingling with fatigue, and maybe even happiness. He walked in, closing the door behind him, and put his own bag down. Slipping off his shoes, he walked over to where a small bench sat in front of the fireplace and held his hands out to the flame, warming them.

"Did it take you long?" Relena asked, joining him. "You look half frozen… it wasn't cold at all earlier."

"I came in by boat, it's colder on the water," he replied, not yet looking at her. The two sat for a while in silence, before Relena excused herself, putting a large pot of water over the fire to boil and pulling some of the remaining bread and a thermos of milk from her bag.

"Have something to eat," she nearly whispered. "You look like a skeleton."

He looked at her now, taking in her form. She looked thin, too, and tired. The past year had been a long one, and though he didn't know much, he assumed it was likely just as arduous as he past one had been. He was glad to see that she was smiling, her hand outstretched to him with the half-loaf still in it. He took it, his fingers brushing hers, and he felt her shiver before drawing away from him.

"So tell me," he started, "what have you done this year?"

Relena smiled again, an ironic, half-smile. "Unfortunately, not much. Everything's a process. To do one thing, you have to file seven petitions, kiss the rear ends of the 25 right people you need to sign the petitions, go to the fifty galas of the twenty-five people whose names you need… and then, when you finally think you're done, it turns out that idea you had actually needs five more filings to go through. I don't even know what to do about Mars anymore. I've funneled all the money into it I can, for now. I've been trying to get more private financial backing, but it's not easy. People aren't convinced that colonizing another planet won't—"

"End up like the colonies did," Heero finished, swallowing a deep drink of the milk before putting the thermos back down. The water began boiling, and Relena added some soup stock to it she had brought, stirring it slowly. "They're afraid that if we send people up there, they'll want to be separate from the Earth."

Relena sighed, turning back toward him. "Exactly. I don't know how to convince them otherwise." Sitting back down, she moved closer to Heero, resting her head on his shoulder. He reached out and started stroking her long, honey-coloured hair, trying to reassure her.

"It'll be fine. Just keep doing what you're doing, we'll take care of everything on Mars."

Relena turned to look at him again, intrigued. "What's it like, on Mars, anyways? Sometimes I feel like a fool for trying to extol the benefits of a planet I've never even set foot on."

Heero looked at her, his face remaining typically stoic. "It's cold."

She laughed, a full, unrestrained and beautiful sound that moved something deep within Heero, and he found himself wanting to hear it more and more.

"Not just cold," he continued, "completely fucking freezing. The minute you step out anywhere, even with all the suiting on, you think you're going to die. Antarctica was nothing compared to it. But it's beautiful," he said, looking somewhat whistful. "The ground, the wind, the people working together to achieve something so monumental… it's pretty incredible."

Relena smiled once again, admiring his words. Although not the most feeling man, Heero had always been succinct. When he thought something was beautiful, it was because it genuinely was.

"You know I can't stay," he whispered, his hand moving along her arm to her shoulder, along the porcelain skin of her neck until he could cup her check.

"I wouldn't ask, Heero. I can't go with you, I wouldn't ask you to stay," she replied, leaning into his hand and shifting closer to him on the bench, until the warmth of their breaths were mixing before them.

Heero closed the gap, kissing her suddenly, deeply, holding her face with both hands as though if he let go she would slip away. Relena held him with the same fervor, her hands roaming his neck and back, clinging to the sweater he wore, pulling the young man closer so she could run her hands through his soft hair and feel the smooth skin of his face.

Separating finally, the two lovers stood, and Relena led Heero by the hand to the small bed. Blowing out the nearby candle, she laid down, pulling him toward her.

_Said I forgot_  
_But I did not_  
_Dreams we have had_  
_Play in my head_

* * *

It had been a over a year since Heero Yuy had seen Relena Darlian. The previous year he had been unable to return, forced to stay on Mars, working, slaving to make it livable. Unable to contact her, he had hoped she would understand, and had decided to let the thought rest.

He loved Relena Darlian. If Heero Yuy knew it, felt it emanating from the depths of his heart, then there was no way that Relena was oblivious to it. Heero also loved space, and working on Mars had given him a sense of purpose that he hadn't had for years before. He had Relena to thank for that, and no way to show her how he appreciated her understanding and faith in him, as well as the other pilots who were working alongside him on the red planet. Setting up Mars as a refuge for retired soldiers, Relena had turned it into a paradise for men and woman who, after the war had ended, had felt useless, purposeless.

Because she had done this, they could not be together. They both understood. He hoped she would just understand he was not abandoning her, or his promises, their dreams, just postponing them for the greater good.

The second year, Heero returned to Earth, but Relena never came. After battling with customs, space shuttles, boats and cars, struggling through the forest and arriving at the clearing, he waited. He waited all night and into the next day, noticing the new, small tree growing amongst the enormous others, but no Relena. Unable to contact her and unwilling to risk exposing their secret relationship, Heero had returned, despondent, to Mars. Assuming it was his fault, he had fallen into a cycle of regret, pain and depression, isolating himself from his coworkers and the few friends he had made, blaming himself for losing the one person who had truly understood him. Another year passed this way, and Heero remained unsure of what to do.

Finally, it was Trowa Barton who made his mind up for him. Sitting next to him at the small, newly built bar on Mars, the tall man struck up conversation.

"Surprised to see you here, Heero," he said, nodding to the bartender to thank him for the drink. "The flight out to Earth leaves in the morning, shouldn't you be packing?"

Heero turned lazily to face him, his eyes clouded with sadness. Saying nothing, he took another long gulp of his fifth drink, choosing to ignore his friend.

"You have to go, Heero." Trowa said, a sense of finality to his words.

"I don't. She didn't come. She… didn't come," Heero responded, putting his hands on the bar. "She won't come." Getting up quickly, he started walking toward the door.

"You're no longer needed here, Heero," Trowa called after him. The dark haired man stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn to face his companion. "We don't need you here anymore. The building will keep going without you. More and more people are coming in every day to help. We don't need you, Heero, but she does. Go to her. Wait for her. Find her."

Heero did not respond, continuing out the door. Trowa smiled to himself, sipping his drink.

Surpsiring everyone but him, the next day, Heero Yuy was missing from Mars.

_Did we believe_  
_The cry of the leaves?_  
_Did we regret?_  
_Would we forget?

* * *

_

Heero walked quickly along the dock of the shipyard, his small number of belongings packed inside a few suitcases. Leaving them secured near the old Peacecraft mansion, he continued straight away into the forest, throwing himself along the now barely visible path.

He felt a rush of emotions he hated experiencing; fear, regret, anger, frustration. All these boiled just below the surface of his thoughts, causing him to lash out at the greenery in his way, scaring off woodland creatures and birds as he thrashed through the thicket. Finally, he started speaking aloud, as if to coach himself, preparing himself. "She won't be there, she won't come. You fucked up, Yuy, and now you're paying for it. Should have just stayed on Mars… this was such a mistake. She won't come. She didn't come."

Reaching the clearing, he looked around for the woman he so desperately sought. No sign of her was there, no clothes, no bags, no smoke from a fire, no food. Breaking down, Heero slammed his hand against the doorframe of the old cottage. "I knew it!" he shouted, venting his anger. Crossing the field angrily, he threw himself into fighting with one of the oaks standing there. "You fucking idiot! You knew she wouldn't come!" Striking the tree until his hands bled, he turned and looked at the now larger sapling standing near it. He approached it, and seizing the trunck of it with both hands, went to break it.

He heard a gasp and turned towards the source of the noise.

No amount of coaching could prepare him for the new emotions that flooded him as he reached the clearing. There, standing before him, was Relena, his love, his life. She ran to him, throwing herself into his arms. Sobbing into his chest and showering him with kisses, he returnd her affections, falling down onto the soft grass and pulling her on top of him, letting his hands explore her body, as though making sure she were real.

After a while, the two separated, and Relena rolled over onto her back. "Do you know what this forest is?" she asked, turning her head towards him. Heero slowly shook his head, still recovering from the shock of finally seeing Relena again, in the flesh, after so long.

"My father's parents, my biological grandparents, started it," she started, turning back over onto her back. "They planted a tree every time a family member was born. It think it goes back farther than that. Some of these trees could be over one hundred years old, for all we know. See those two oaks there? My father and his brother, my grandfather planted them. That black willow is for my brother, and this chestnut tree was planted when I was born." The silence again engulfed them.

"Heero, I'm so sorry," she said, her hand stroking his face. "I'm so sorry—" She gasped again as he quickly grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from him.

"Why?" he said, his anger becoming renewed. "Why didn't you come? I waited for you, I risked everything coming back here for you, and you didn't come. Why, Relena? Why?" his voice broke, his eyes clouding as he shoved her hand away from them.

Relena looked sorrowfully, brokenly at him, before standing up. Wrapping her arms around herself, she rubbed her arms. "There's so much you don't know, Heero… there's so much I have to explain. Please, come with me," she said, extending a hand to the man she loved.

Heero looked at her carefully, before taking her hand and following as she led him not to the cottage, but back through the woods. They passed most of the journey without speaking, Heero merely following the young woman until they reached the palace grounds. Once they crossed the surrounding fence, she spoke.

"Heero, I'm so sorry. I meant to meet you earlier, but I was waiting at the palace.. you must have walked right past and I didn't see you… I figured you either hadn't come, or would be here, so I hiked out and there you were," Relena said breathlessly. "I'm sorry I missed you. I'm sorry I didn't come last year. I broke my promise, and I—"

Heero cut her off violently. "Relena, just don't," he said, walking past her as she stared at him, "I don't need to hear your excuses. I didn't give you any, I don't want any from you. I'm going to get my things and go to South America. Une needs agents there."

Relena reached out to him, almost frantically. "Heero, Heero please, don't go," she said chasing him as he quickly crossed the lawn. "Heero please, I have to explain, please don't leave," she continued to beg as he changed his trajectory slightly and headed towards the house. Relena continued to try and hold him back, to block him from the house, but he pushed her to the side, gently but forcefully.

"I'm going in to clean up and eat, and then I'm leaving. I suggest you head back yourself, I'm sure someone is missing you," he said, opening the back double doors and walking inside.

"Heero please! You don't understand!" Relena shouted, standing in the door.

Sleeping quietly in a large, decorated crib in the main room, a baby awoke from the noise, crying slightly.

Suddenly, Heero understood.

Crossing the hardwood floor and approaching the crib, he looked down at the infant it contained. Gurging as it calmed, the baby girl stared back at him, two deep blue eyes locked with his, set in a round, smiling face surrounded dark brown curls. Relena approached him slowly, frightened.

"Heero, I wanted to explain, I tried to find you, to contact you, but Mars is so far… the messages never got through…" she said, approaching the crib from the opposite side. Her young love continued to stare at the baby. Reaching out, he slid a hand under the infant's head, one under her back, and picked her up carefully. Handling his daughter as though she were a delicate doll, his eyes filled with tears, and he turned to face Relena. Apologies came to his lips but were never uttered, as she came close to him and kissed him once more.

"Her name is Sitara," Relena said, reaching out to stroke the girl's hair. The baby smiled, wrapping her hand around Relena's finger. "Heero, I—"

She never finished her sentence. Neither of the two needed any explanation.

_Winters have come and gone_  
_You know_  
_Winters have come and gone_  
_You know_  
_But I'll meet you young and free_  
_For a dance 'round the memory tree

* * *

_

A/N: The end? You decide! Seriously. If you wanna know more about the little family, I could write one-offs about this situation forever. If it reaches… 30 good reviews, I'll upload a sequel! (P.S. 30 is totally arbitrary. If people review and demand a good sequel, I've got one in mind. I'm totally susceptible to bribery and flattery!)


	2. The Only Exception

A/N: Well, here we go, Part 2 of the fluffy songfic saga. Hope you all enjoy it. Please read and review, and if you want part 3 up let me know, it's already written and waiting to be posted. Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the song "The Only Exception", it's written and performed by _Paramore_.

Happy Reading!

The Only Exception

_When I was younger I saw my daddy cry  
and curse at the wind  
He broke his own heart and I watched  
as he tried to reassemble it  
and my momma swore that she would  
never let herself forget  
and that was the day that I promised I'd never sing of love  
if it does not exist…_

Relena lay in bed, unable to sleep. Spending hours tossing and turning, she was actually thankful when she heard her daughter calling for her over the monitor. Sitting up, she turned on the bedside lamp; she pulled on a robe over her nightgown and walked into the adjoining room, where her daughter was standing in her crib.

At two and a half years old, Sitara was beginning to look and act more and more like her father every day. Her hair curled in tight ringlets, reaching her shoulders. Dressed in her favorite bunny-rabbit pajamas, she hopped up and down on the crib mattress, her hands hanging onto the railing. Relena was surprised she hadn't just climbed out herself, as the little girl had taken to doing the past few weeks.

As Relena approached the crib, Sitara smiled, her dimpled cheeks glowing with happiness. She held her hands out, shouting "Mama!", wiggling as she waited to be picked up. Relena grimaced, not relishing the coming events, but knowing it was necessary.

"Tara, I'm not letting you out," she said gently, taking her baby's hands and putting them back in the crib. The child narrowed her eyes in a way only the spawn of Heero Yuy could, immediately beginning to pout.

"I. want. _Out_," Sitara said, stamping a foot. Relena remained as stoic as she could, returning the girl's hands to her sides.

"No, Sitara. It's nighttime. You have to sleep, or we can't go out tomorrow," she warned. The two had a trip to the local zoo planned for the weekend, and they had both been looking forward to it for some time, Relena sitting down with her daughter before bed, going over picture books of animals from all over the world. Sitara's favorite was always the tigress. Her mother couldn't say she was surprised.

Sitara continued to glare, crossing her arms in front of her chest, weighing her options. Finally, she exhaled loudly, and fell back onto her matress. Relena smiled as she tucked the little girl back in, kissing her on the forehead.

"I love you," she whispered. "Sleep tight."

"Don't let 'em bed bugs bite," Sitara replied, closing her eyes and settling back down to sleep. Relena returned to her room, exhausted but unable to fathom sleeping. She decided to plan out the impending zoo trip instead, powering up her computer.

She knew her daughter likely wouldn't remember the trip as she grew older, but she loved spending what time with the child she could. As the foreign minister, Relena was reluctant to bring her child out in public often; her life was often under scrutiny, and an illegitimate child being paraded in public would only put strain on them both, and bring up the inevitable question: who is the father?

Thus far she had managed to ward off suspicion, moving back to her biological parent's home in Sanq, keeping her daughter out of the bustling cities of central Europe.

Plotting their trip around the zoo, Relena tried to remember what her early childhood had been like. She remembered little to nothing of Sanq, save for a few brief memories of nothing consequential, but had more memory of her life after being adopted by the Darlians. She remembered spending more time with her mother than her father, which was understandable. Being the foreign minister, as she now knew more than ever, was a straining and demanding job.

She had few memories of her father that weren't from business trips or meetings she had tagged along with. She remembered one night in particular: she had been too young to understand, but a negotiation with the alliance must have gone poorly, and her father was extremely frustrated, arguing loudly with advisors over the phone until late at night. Relena remembered peering through the door to his home office, seeing him steated behind his desk, resting his elbows on the heavy wood table, holding his head in his hands. She had always been her hero, a symbol of solidarity, and she had been shocked to see him looking so broken. Her mother had come along and closed the door to his office, ushering her off to bed, but Relena never forgot that moment.

Relena wished she could spend more time at home, with her child and her family, and struggled often with whether or not she was making the correct decision. Decisions were something that had become difficult for her, as of late. Growing up, Relena had been reactionary, trusting her instincts and throwing caution to the wind. As she had aged, she had gained more responsibilities, more reason to be cautious, and now it was costing her.

One of these decisions was what to do about Heero's return. The two had participated in an extremely informal relationship, seeing each other for only a few days each year since the Mariemaia coup, and Relena wasn't sure how to adjust to having him in her home, let alone in the country. She closed her laptop abruptly, knowing it would hold no answers regarding how to develop a relationship with the father of your child, whom you had never even been on a date with.

She sighed, nearly laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, wondering how she had let this happen. One night of unprotected sex was all it took to change your life from complicated to just plain bizarre.

Suddenly, Relena was snapped out of her train of thought by a light knocking on the glass of her balcony door. Wary, she approached them slowly, pulling the curtain out away from the glass on the far side of the window before opening the door.

"You know, you have a key. To the _front door_," Relena said, holding a hand out to usher Heero in.

"I didn't want to bother your guards, one of them was sleeping and the other looked about ready to kill him for it," he replied, putting a bag down on the floor and taking off his jacket. It had been raining, a chill, fall rain that had soaked him to the bone. Relena took his coat and hung it up before taking his shirt off and offering him a dry one. "Thanks," he said, pulling it over his head before laying down on her bed.

"No problem," she replied quietly, still puzzled as to why the young man was visiting. It had been months since he had returned to earth to find he was the father of a beautiful little girl, and though he had been trying to be involved in her life, Heero was unsure of where he fit in _Relena's_ life.

Neither of them were sure where they fit with each other, but they knew they both had a duty to be involved with their child.

"Pass me the bag?" Heero asked, pointing to it. Relena bent down and grabbed it for him, tossing it onto the bed before climbing in on her side. Heero sat up and unzipped the smaller pocket, extracting a small gift-wrapped box. "For you," he said quietly, avoiding eye contact as he passed it to the woman he loved.

Relena looked pleasantly surprised, which he took as a good sign, and she began to open the delicate blue wrapping paper. Slipping the top lid off the box, she turned the contents out into her palm: a simple silver snake-chain leading to a deep blue stone the size of a quarter, some kind of semiprecious stone buffed into the shape of a perfect teardrop. "Heero," she said, turning it over in her hand, "it's beautiful. Thank you."

Their eyes met, and Heero took the necklace from her, opened the clasp, and pulled her long blond hair out of the way gently before fastening it around her neck. "I saw it and it reminded me of the colour of your eyes," he said quietly, not wanting to wake Sitara. Relena looked back at him, as though searching for something in the depths of his dark blue eyes. Seeming to find what she was looking for, Relena closed the gap between them, kissing him deeply.

_But Darlin'  
you are the only exception  
you are the only exception  
you are the only exception  
you are the only exception…_

Heero returned the kiss, his hand reaching up to her face gently, a thumb tracing the perfect arch of her cheekbone before pulling her face away from his gently. "Relena…" he whispered, looking back into the crystal clear orbs in front of him. "If you want me to stay…" he trailed off, looking away from her.

"I can't ask you to stay," she said back, taking his hand from her face.

"Why?" he asked, moving closer to her.

"Because," she said sadly, laying down and turning on her side to face away from him, "if I don't ask you, and you disappear again, it won't feel like you left _me_."

Heero continued to stare at the woman he loved for a few moments before pulling the covers over himself and, sliding an arm under her head, pulled her body next to him. "I will never leave you," he whispered. "I'll always be right here."

_Maybe I know somewhere  
deep in my soul  
that love never lasts  
and we've got to find other ways  
to make it alone  
keep a straight face  
and I've always lived like this, keeping a comfortable distance  
and up until now I had sworn to myself that I'm content  
With loneliness  
because none of it was ever worth the risk…_

When he woke, it was long before Relena would finally rise. He could tell the night before it had been at least a week before she had slept properly, and Heero moved as slowly and carefully as possible, extracting himself from the tangled mass of limbs and sheets without waking her. He turned off the baby monitor on the bedside table, and walked out of the room via the adjoining door into his daughter's nursery.

Sitara was still asleep, one hand clutching the bed sheet near her face, the other wrapped around a teddy bear; the same bear he had given Relena years before. Heero stood and watched his daughter sleep for some time, marveling at the tiny motions of her chest as she breathed, her small movements and noises as she dreamed. How he had come from being a soldier to a father was still a bewildering change to him, and he wasn't sure how to deal with the adjustment.

He was also unsure how Relena expected him to act. She had become a maze of changing emotion since he had come back to Earth permanently, unreadable in his eyes. He knew his time on Mars was over; he had known it since he had first looked into the eyes of his child. Heero couldn't part with her again, and being part of his daughter's life meant being part of Relena's.

Social skills had never been part of his training. He didn't know how to date, how to woo a woman or keep one happy. Their previous arrangement had been simple, free of attachments and complications, but it had also been shallow, and left him feeling hollow. Now, he was free to come and go as he pleased, but Heero desperately wanted to stay, and even more desperately wanted Relena to _want_ him to stay.

He just didn't know how to make that happen, but Heero was learning. Slowly, he was learning._  
_

_Well you are the only exception  
you are the only exception  
you are the only exception  
you are the only exception..._

Sitara woke, finally, stretching her arms above her head and yawning before opening her eyes. They widened briefly before she recognized him; she was still adjusting to Heero's presence in the house. Her parents had decided it was better to wait before explaining his paternity to her, she was of an age where changes were accepted slowly and with much kicking and screaming, which they both wanted to avoid.

Sitting up, the little girl rubbed her eyes before standing up in the crib. "Out!" she demanded, holding her arms up to Heero. He grabbed ahold of her below her arms and lifted her out, propping her on his hip and carrying her out of the nursery. "Where going?" she asked, looking around, still carrying the bear.

"To get some breakfast for your mother," he replied craftily. "Do you want to help me? It'll be a special surprise."

"Mhm!" the girl nodded emphatically, wriggling to get down from his grip. Heero put her down gently and watched as she ran ahead of him to the kitchen, humming some tuneless melody. Heero followed her, thinking about what he should make. Cooking was a practical skill, one he had practiced often while he'd been in the field. He decided to make some kind of omelet, opening the fridge to see what was inside. A large clanging sounded behind him, a steel bowl along the floor toward him, ringing as it fell. He turned around and saw Sitara proudly holding up a large frying pan, as though she had read his mind. "Found it!" she squealed, lifting the pan with both hands and passing it to him.

"Thanks," he said, taking the pan and putting it on top of the stove. Turning the burner on, he gathered the ingredients he needed and pulled over a stool for the girl to stand on. Tapping it with his hand, he called her over. She jumped up onto the stool and pushed her sleeves up, clapping her hands together as she stared at him intently.

Heero walked her through how to crack eggs, going through about five before she finally got a perfect one. Sitara was the official taste-tester, making sure everything was good enough for 'mommy' before being put onto a plate for her. Miffed she couldn't carry the tray, she settled for carrying a small plate with a piece of toast on it, slathered in peanut butter, her favorite breakfast. Heero opened the door to Relena's bedroom and the two stepped inside.

"Look what we made for you!" Sitara said, jumping up on the bed, putting the plate of toast on the bedside table. "I even cracked th' eggs!" she continued excitedly, snuggling up to her slowly waking mother. Relena sighed heavily before sitting up, hugging her daughter close and looking at Heero, still holding the tray of food.

"All this, for me?" she asked her daughter. "This is such a nice surprise! Thank you, honey!" she said, taking the tray from Heero. It was clear her compliment was directed at him, but she feigned it for her daughter, if only to see the bright smile on her face.

The makeshift family had their first breakfast in bed, discussing the animals they would see at the zoo and what they should take for lunch. They packed up a simple picnic and headed out to the car. Relena hadn't planned on Heero coming with them, but on a Wednesday morning the zoo was unlikely to be crowded, and she wanted Sitara to spend whatever time she could with her father.

She wanted to spend time with Heero, too. Besides their yearly meetings, the two had rarely spoken, content with knowing what they had about each other and leaving it at that. Now that they had this profound connection, now that their love had spilled over into their daughter, Relena found herself wanting more, but unable to ask for it.

They arrived at the zoo after about an hour of driving, Heero behind the wheel, the stereo playing Sitara's favorite CD, a mixture of classical music and typical children's songs. The little girl sang along, bouncing her legs on her carseat, while her parents rode in silence. Relena got their tickets while Heero helped Sitara out of the car, and they began walking around the large park.

They passed alligators, komodo dragons, and lizards, all of which delighted Sitara while making her mother's skin crawl. They spent time in the butterfly conservatory, where Heero taught the girl not to touch the wings of the pretty insects as she held them. They saw fish in the large aquarium, and animals from all over the world.

Finally, it was time for the big cats. Sitara could barely contain herself, running around, hiding behind benches and decorations to jump out, roaring like a tiger. They passed lions, pumas and leopards, and then finally, the tiger exhibit. Sitara was fixated on them for some time, watching the felines as they prowled around their exhibit, waiting to be fed. One approached the glass and looked at her, and Relena pulled out her camera.

"Heero," she said. "Pick her up, I'll get a picture of you two with the tiger," she said, motioning toward the cat. Heero walked over and picked up his daughter, hoisting her up onto his hip next to the tiger's attentive face. Just as Relena snapped the picture, a voice sounded behind her.

"There they are!" a man shouted, jogging along the patch towards them. Him and several others approached, cameras around their necks. Relena looked back at Heero, and mouthed to him "_Leave, now_," as she took Sitara from him, picked up their bag, and left the exhibit, the reporters trailing behind him. Before Heero could get away, they were upon him, questioning him from the obvious "are you the father", to the ludicrous "are you kidnapping that child?" He pushed them out of the way, heading back out to the highway. Heero hailed a cab at the entrance of the zoo and headed back to the palace, infuriated with the situation.

By the time Relena and Sitara got back to the palace, Heero was gone, and had taken his bags and clothes with him.

_I've got a tight grip on reality  
but I can't let go of what's in front of me here  
I know you're leaving in the morning, when you wake up  
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream..._

Putting Sitara down for an afternoon nap in her playpen downstairs, Relena went to her office. Sitting down behind her desk, she put her head in her hands and cried, much as her father had so many years ago. She had known it would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep Sitara a secret for long, but Relena had never counted on Heero returning to Earth. He added a whole level of complication to her life that she simply had no idea how to reckon with.

Sighing, she realized it was likely no longer an issue. Though Relena had never asked Heero to stay, she had told him to leave, and that's what he had done. Heero had disappeared, just like he always did, leaving her alone with the child he gave her, the constant reminder of what love can do to even the strongest of women.

Standing, Relena went up to her room, looking for anything she could find of Heero's, any trace that he might have left, any note saying "I'm sorry," or "I'll be back" or where to find him. After scouring the room and finding nothing, Relena sat down on the edge of her bed. She didn't know how long she had sat there, but eventually she stood up and went into the nursery to grab some clean clothes for Sitara. Walking in, she initially ignored the crib. Grabbing the outfit she had in mind out of the dresser, Relena noticed a flash of orange out of the corner of her eye. Walking over to the crib, she saw inside a new stuffed tiger, a note around its neck.

_I'm sorry,_ it read. _I love you._

Suddenly, all the questions and doubts Relena had dissolved, and she knew what she had to do.

_You are the only exception  
you are the only exception  
you are the only exception  
you are the only exception..._

Rushing into the airport, Relena walked as fast as she could while holding Sitara at her side. Not knowing where Heero was headed, Relena reverted to her old ways and relied on instinct, looking at the flightboard.

Cancun, Rio, Montreal, Sydney, Hong Kong, Moscow, Fort Victoria… _Fort Victoria_, she read. Turning towards the according terminal, she walked in, encountering a little trouble with customs, but after assuring them she wasn't outbound, they let her pass. Relena started to grow frantic, wondering if she would ever find him. So many faces passed, none she recognized, and Relena quickly began to lose hope. Suddenly, she heard an unlikely voice overtop of the hum of the terminal.

"Man, how are you? You just took off on us up there, one day you were there, next day, poof! You come back for Relena, huh, huh?" Duo harassed his friend, while a very pregnant Hilde stood next to him, rubbing her temples with her fingers. Relena sighed, tears coming to her eyes.

"Relena?" Duo asked, looking over Heero's shoulder. Heero turned, looked back at her, and smiled.

"Daddy!" Sitara yelled, swinging her feet to get down out of Relena's grip. Relena put her down, shocked her daughter had made the extrapolation. Sitara ran up to her father, putting her arms up to be picked up. "Daddy, you _know_ you have to count first before you play hide and seek,_" _she said, wagging a finger at him. "Next time, you don't cheat!"

Relena simply looked on, smiling the same teary-eyed smile. Somehow, it would all work out.

_I'm on my way to believing…_  
_I'm on my way to believing._


	3. Until the End of Time

A/N: Next verse, same as the first! (although not louder... and hopefully not worse?) Anyhow, here's the next part in this little family saga. Part 4 is written up already, waiting to be uploaded if y'all want it. Music is my ultimate muse, and this story is just one that writes itself, so it'll keep going as long as you readers and reviewers want to see it!

That said, please, please, please review, I love to know what you all want to see happen next. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the lyrics or music to _Until the End of Time_. No idea who wrote it, but Justin Timberlake performs it.

-picimadar

Until the End of Time

_Woke up this morning  
Heard the TV sayin' something  
'Bout disaster in the world and  
It made me wonder where I'm going…_

"No suspects are in custody at this time, as the Preventers have yet to finish processing the scene," the reporter said, turning back towards the camera. "I'm Camille Renault for CEN, back to you Ken." Heero sighed, turning off the television and getting up off the couch. He had read Une's report on the intrusion himself, and couldn't come up with any leads either. The evidence was minimal at best, the mark of a trained man, or group of them.

_Entered via security override_, the file had read. _No sign of forced entry- disguised as agent? Entered the home of Relena Darlian, searched, and exited. No injuries or theft_. Thankfully the intruder hadn't counted on her being in Sanq with him, living their secret life, safe inside the palace few knew had even been restored.

Now, they would know. With no sign of Relena Darlian in her own home in the middle of the night, questions had arisen, and before they knew it she had been followed from Brussels to Sanq, reporters filming her returning to the palace on the ocean, wondering why she had picked the home of her biological parents to live in.

All too soon, it became clear that their secret could not remain hidden for long. Reporters were still camped out outside the palace, and the whole family was growing restless, trapped inside. Sitara was dealing with it the worst, her birthday quickly approaching. Relena was unsure whether or not they would be able to take her out as she had planned, and the little girl was tragically disappointed.

Leaving the common room, Heero walked upstairs to the room he now shared with Relena, and knew what he had to do. He didn't want to be Relena's secret; he wanted to be her life.

_...There's so much darkness in the world  
But I see beauty left in you girl  
and what you give me let's me know  
That I'll be alright..._

Closing the bedroom door behind him, he looked at the young woman who laid awake, waiting for him. Reading a novel, Relena hadn't heard him come in, and only looked up when he began to undress, preparing for sleep. She watched him intently, eyes roaming his perfect, tan skin, lingering on the ripple of the muscles in his chest and the tightness of his abdomen.

Heero cleared his throat, snapping her out of her eye-candy enjoyment. "Like what you see?" he asked as jokingly as Heero Yuy could, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Relena smiled slightly, both embarrassed at being caught and glad she had been. "Very much," she replied, putting a mark in her book and putting it down on the bedside table. Holding her hands out in much the same fashion as her daughter often did, Relena beckoned him toward her. Heero melded into her arms, sliding his legs under the covers next to her and kissing her gently on her lips and cheeks. He let his hand trail down her back, brushing through her hair before pulling her closer to him. Relena moaned slightly into his mouth, arching her back against his chest. Just as Heero decided his evening was about to get more interesting, the vidcom screen in Relena's entertainment system began to beep.

Groaning, Heero lurched out of bed and walked over to the computer screen. _MAXWEll, DUO,_ the screen read. Heero quickly completed the link, nearly shouting "What?" just as his friend's image appeared on-screen.

"Oi, good to see you too, buddy!" Duo said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. At 11:30pm, he hadn't been expecting a cheerful greeting, but his news was too important. Heero looked at the screen surrounding Duo's face and realized the young man was not at home, but at the hospital.

"What happened?" he asked, taking a seat at the computer chair. Relena, giving up on sleep, came over and wrapped her arms around Heero's neck, waving at Duo as the young man replied.

"We're having the baby!" he said excitedly, a proud look on his face. From behind him there was a frustrated sound, somewhere between a groan and a howl.

"_We?_"' it shouted. "_I'm_ having this baby, _you're _standing around looking like an _idiot!_" Hilde yelled, clearly farther along in the labor than Heero and Relena had anticipated.

"Sounds like you should get back in there, Duo. We'll be on our way over soon," Heero said, terminating the link and looking over his shoulder at the young woman still draped there. "You ready? We can leave Tara here with the guards, she should sleep through the night anyways," he said, standing up and grabbing his clothes back up off the floor.

Relena sighed, stretching, before following suit. "I suppose. Let's head over there, I'm excited to see the baby."

Heero drove while Relena continued reading her book. The hospital Duo and Hilde were delivering at was about an hour away, in a city nearby to New Port. After discovering she was pregnant, Hilde and Duo had considered their options carefully. Children were not yet allowed on the inhospitable colony on Mars, and deliveries there were considered especially dangerous. Deciding, ultimately, that they wanted to keep their child, the couple had made the long journey back to Earth, landing at Fort Victoria and continuing to Sanq, where they had met her, Heero, and their daughter at the airport. Relena had quickly made arrangements for them to stay in a small town outside the main city, at least until the baby was born, and it appeared today was the day.

"You know," she mused without looking up from her book, "I bet it's a boy."

Heero grunted, unconvinced. "Why do you think that?"

Relena shrugged, continuing to read. "I don't know. I guess it's just one of those things women can tell. I knew I was having a girl when I was pregnant with Sitara. I even had the nursery painted pink before she was born."

Heero thought about this while Relena continued to read. He always felt guilty about missing Relena's pregnancy, the childbirth, the long hours awake and midnight feedings, the first steps and first words… Relena, seeming to read his mind, reached over to his hand on the gearshift and wrapped her fingers around his tightly, as if to say _You're here now, be here, and enjoy it_.

_'Cause if your love was all I had  
In this life  
Well that would be enough  
Until the end of time.  
So rest your weary heart  
And relax your mind,  
'Cause I'm gonna love you girl  
Until the end of time..._

Heero squeezed her hand back before downshifting as they pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. Stepping out of the car, he locked up. "I'll pay for parking, why don't you go in and see where her room is?" Relena nodded, smiling excitedly as she jogged inside. Heero walked over to the display ticket machine, smiling as well.

"Hilde know you picked up the habit?" he asked his friend, who was hidden in the shadow of the machine.

"Don't tell her, she'll kick my ass as soon as she can stand again," Duo replied, taking another long drag of his cigarette. Exhaling, he dropped the butt on the ground and put it out with his foot before leaning on the display next to where Heero was scanning his payment card. "I'm glad you guys could make it."

Heero nodded. "We'd been planning on coming since we found out she was pregnant," he said, taking the ticket out of the machine and walking over to his car. "We'd been waiting for the call for about a week, but Relena thought Hilde'd deliver next week. How's she doing?"

Duo shrugged, smiling his infectious grin. "They were worried at first 'cause the baby's premature, but they said everything looks good. She's called me all manner of curses and names, but secretly I think she's happy. She hasn't been able to talk about anything but this baby for weeks now." The two men walked back into the hospital, and Heero followed Duo up to the maternity ward, where Relena was already waiting for them, holding Hilde's hand and whispering to her.

"Can't imagine what that's like," Duo thought, shuddering. "Getting that huge and all the morning sickness, and then this? Never been happier to be a man," he said, patting his friend on the back before returning to Hilde's side. Heero just stood, watching the woman as she struggled with the pain, gripping both Relena and Duo's hands tightly. Hilde felt lucky and relieved to have her friends there with her, which made Heero wonder who had been there for Relena.

It saddened him to know so little about those years he had been away, but he just didn't know how to ask without reminding the woman he loved how he had failed her and their daughter. Heero was knocked out of his reverie by a passing ob-gyn, who was pulling on some rubber gloves before lifting the sheet covering Hilde's legs. Quickly avoiding seeing more of the woman than he wanted to, Heero took a seat near Duo.

"Alright, love," the doctor began, her accent endearing and relaxing. "We're gonna have to getcha ready to push, you're just about there. Now, I want ya to take a deep, good breath, and then hold it and push as hard as ya can while I count, alrighty? Now, breathe… and one, two.."

The woman continued to count, Hilde's face contorting with the effort as she pushed 'till the count of ten before resting briefly and trying again. Relena kept a cold cloth in her hand, wiping sweat from her friend's head, while Duo, oddly silent, stared at Hilde in wonderment until finally, after many exhausting minutes of pushing and hours of labor, a cry was heard, and the doctor brought William Carl Maxwell into the world.

_Now if you're ever wondering  
About the way I'm feeling,  
Well baby girl there ain't no question  
Just to be around you is a blessin'…_

Relena spent as much time with Hilde as she could without neglecting her job or her own family, trying to help ease her friends' transition into parenthood. Heero had volunteered to stay at home with their daughter, keeping her engaged while her mother was away, going between business and meetings to the Maxwell residence, returning home on rare occasions.

Sitara wasn't the only one missing Relena; Heero did as well, and he told her so during their conversation that night.

"I know, I miss you too, but they need me," Relena replied, brushing him off. Something inside Heero snapped.

"_I_ need you," he said, his brows furrowing. Relena looked at him, trying to interpret the sudden emotion.

"No, you don't, so don't pout," she replied, looking at him with the same look she'd have given Sitara in that situation. It made Heero's stomach churn.

"Well that's just it, isn't it? I don't need you, and you don't need me, so why are we doing this?" He immediately regretted the words, but it was too late, he watched as Relena's face fell before immediately shifting from sad to angry.

"I don't know, Heero. Why did you bother to come back at all?" she responded, hurt.

Heero remembered a piece of advice he had given, and obviously forgotten: _Act on your emotions_. "Because I love you," he said, his eyes lowered. Relena simply stared at him, disbelieving.

"Then why tell me now? Why wait all this time?" Relena asked, her voice wavering.

"Because I knew you didn't need me here, and that's what I need… to have a purpose… to have someone need me. I want you to need me, Relena. I want you to love me and need me with you. I want to stay here, with you, and Sitara, for as long as you'll let me, but when you say I don't need you, and you prove you don't need me, what am I supposed to feel?"

Relena looked at him, wishing she could be there to hold him. A lone tear marked a trail down her cheek. "You love me?" she asked, looking at him.

"Yes," he said, not meeting her eyes.

"You want to stay here with me, and Tara, forever." She clarified to herself, still in disbelief.

"If you want me to."

"Heero Yuy," Relena replied, smiling now, laughing lightly as she spoke, "if you propose to me over a vidcom I'm going to be seriously disappointed in your creativity." Heero's head snapped up, his eyes meeting hers, and he understood what she wanted him to say.

"Would you marry me?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Yes. I love you, Heero," Relena replied quietly. "And my daughter needs her father."

_...Sick and tired of trying to save the world  
I just want to spend my time with you girl  
And what you give me  
Lets me know that we'll be alright..._

Duo woke, for what he thought must have been the seventeenth time that night, to the sound of his new son crying. Sitting up, he saw that Hilde was already awake, padding over to the small crib in the corner of their bedroom. Reaching out, she picked up the tiny baby and shushed him gently, rocking and bouncing him in her arms. After a few moments Will quieted, and Hilde put him back down. Duo walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her shoulder as she looked down at their son.

"He's so beautiful…" she whispered, running a finger along the soft skin of his cheek.

"Course he is, he's my kid, after all," Duo replied, tickling Hilde's ribs before walking back over to bed.

"Unless there's something you don't know about," Hilde replied, smirking as she climbed in after him, snuggling into the warmth of the covers.

Duo's eyes widened, a caricature of horror. "I'll have to fly all the way back to Mars to find he bastard and _obtenir ma satiscation_," he replied cheekily, his phony French accent adding to the mirth. Hilde sighed, moving closer to him.

"Do you want to go back to Mars?" she asked, running a hand through his bangs.

"Do you?"

Hilde paused. "We couldn't take Will with us. He wouldn't be allowed up there, and besides… that's no place to raise a kid." Duo smiled, his back still facing his wife.

"I agree," he said, rolling over to face her. "I already talked to Une, she took us off the roster for Mars and transferred me. I start work with Wufei on Monday." Hilde was surprised.

"You did? Duo, you love space. Why would you want to stay here?" she asked, saddened that he was jumping to make such a sacrifice.

"Because here's where you are, and my son, and our home. It's just where you need to be right now, and where you need to be is where I will always be."

"Truly?" Hilde asked, tears threatening to spill over. Duo kissed her on both cheeks carefully, then on the lips.

"You know I never tell a lie."

_'Cause if your love was all I had_  
_In this life_  
_Well that would be enough_  
_Until the end of time…_

Relena walked in the door of the palace, dismissing her guard and her night staff before retreating upstairs, shedding her business wear and collapsing into bed. Heero heard her come in from his place in the nursery, and, putting Sitara to bed for the night, shut the door to her room and looked at the young woman lying in front of him. Relena opened her eyes slowly, looking at him as he stared at her. He climbed into bed next to her and took her into his arms swiftly, crushing her to his chest.

Relena pushed him away slightly before kissing him warmly on the mouth, her hands coming up to hold his face, feeling the smooth edges of his cheekbones and the sharpness of a day's worth of stubble on his chin. They savored each other for a while, before parting and laying their heads down beside each other, looking into each others eyes. Suddenly, Heero sat up.

"Come with me," he said. "There's something I have to show you." Taking her hand, he led her out of bed and opened her balcony door, ushering her outside.

The sight that awaited Relena was spectacular. Bouquets of peonies were placed all around the railing of the balcony, their scent filling the air as the ocean breeze blew past. Tiny candles were lit strategically, creating a magnificent ambiance. She walked up to the largest bouquet and inhaled deeply. "Peonies… they're my favorite, you know."

"I didn't know. Sitara helped me choose," Heero admitted, watching her take in the scene. "It made me think a lot about us. There's so much I don't know about you, so much I feel like I"ve missed…." He paused, steeling his courage. "I do know that I want to know everything there is to know about you, and Tara… I don't want to miss anything more."

Relena turned around, and Heero was already down on his knee, holding a small, black velvet box out to her. Inside was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen, a large solitary sapphire glimmering in a circle of diamonds, set in white gold. Gasping, she stepped closer, looking at the ring before looking back at Heero. His eyes were dark, his face showing fear like Relena had never seen him display before.

"Marry me," he whispered, standing slowly.

Relena smiled, tears brimming in her eyes as she stepped forward and closed the gap between then, kissing him passionately.

_...So rest your weary heart  
And relax your mind,  
'Cause I'm gonna love you girl  
Until the end of time.  
_


	4. Stage Fright

A/N: Part 4! Whoo! I haven't started part 5 yet, but I'm totally open for song suggestions! Anything you like, anything that's had you hopping around or been stuck in your head, let me know in a review/PM and I'll try my best to use it!

And just so you all know, I don't impose the "please review and I'll update for sure!" rule anymore. I just wasn't sure what the reaction to "Dance 'Round the Memory Tree" would be, or the later chapters. I've usually got one written up in advance of posting, so if you review, that's great, and if you don't, I'll probably throw it out there. Ultimately it's up to me to decide when this story finishes (and I mean really, it's not like I'm gonna let it run until Sitara has grandkids or something), but it's nice to know that people have vested interest in what happens with your story.

Anyhow, please read and review, I love to know what y'all think. I also don't own Gundam Wing or the song "Stage Fright", Blake McGrath performs it (also check out the video, it's really cute!).

-picimadar

Stage Fright

_I know you think you probably heard it all before…  
Just close your eyes and let me lead you to the floor.  
Baby don't worry I promise I'll be by your side,  
And when you're getting ready take a deep breath, and open your eyes…._

"Surprise!" Relena shouted, taking her hands off Sitara's eyes. The little girl shrieked and clapped her hands at the sight before her; an enormous birthday cake, decorated in the shape of a large Bengal tiger, all three dimensions of it carved out of cake, its mouth open and snarling while candles decorated the outside.

"Alright honey, you have to blow out the candles and make a wish!" Relena pursed her lips, showing her daughter how to extinguish the three bright candles. Sitara mimicked her mother and blew out the candles, cameras flashing and clicking as they captured the moment. Relena clapped her hands when she was done, along with the others, celebrating another year.

She had been surprised by the arrival of some unexpected guests over the past few days, many venturing on one of the few shuttles that left Mars for Earth each year. Her brother, Milliardo and his wife Lucrezia had made the journey, only to discover things on Earth were far from as they'd left them. Although it had initially taken Duo, Relena and Noin to keep Milliardo from strangling Heero to death after finding out about Sitara and their engagement, he settled down after a few days, admitting sulkily that he was at least glad Heero planned on 'doing the right thing' by his sister. Noin was infatuated with her niece, constantly playing with her and chatting with Relena about what her early years had been like. It was clear she wanted a baby of her own, but pregnancy and childbirth were prohibited on Mars.

Trowa had also come back, but Relena suspected there were other motivations besides visiting her. Rumors were already flying that he'd been seen visiting Quatre Winner's residence in the colonies, and questions were being raised. Coming to Earth had been a good escape for the two of them, letting them get away from the rumormongers and paparazzi that bothered them in space. The two sat at the dining table opposite to Relena, and she smiled, noticing they were holding hands under the table.

Duo stood, chatting with Heero and comparing pictures, insisting that his capabilities as a photographer were top-notch. The two argued as only the two of them could, Duo finally walking away into the kitchen to get more beer. Hilde rolled her eyes, knowing he had probably had enough, but what better time to overdo it than a reunion like this? She herself chose to stick to fruit juice and water; she was still nursing Will and watched her diet carefully. He had grown into an easy baby, happy and easy to please, with his mother's dark hair and his father's near-violet eyes.

"Will you shut up already!" Dorothy and Wufei shouted at Duo at nearly the same time. Both claimed to have been 'dragged' there along with Une, Mariemaia and Sally, but in truth they were relieved to have some time away from work. The last few months had been a hassle for them as well as Relena, and it was nice to have an excuse to take a few days away.

Finally, Catherine had arrived, brining props and gifts for the little girl, delighting the child as well as the other guests with snippets from her circus acts. Having heard Trowa was back on Earth, she hadn't been able to resist coming in to see them, and since her troupe was in the area it was the perfect time to get in some quality time with those she missed for so many years.

The palace in Sanq was the perfect place for their hideaway reunion, hidden away from the press, far enough from Brussels and New Port that they could count on having privacy. Relena had opened her home to all of them, arranging rooms for them to stay in and keeping the place cleaned, but minimally staffed. She knew the value of privacy, especially with these guests. She also didn't want to overwhelm her daughter with the number of new people she had to take in; although she had met most of the ones living on Earth briefly, meeting new family was a lot to take in. Relena watched her daughter carefully, and she seemed to be adjusting well, spending time with Noin, admiring Dorothy's hair, making fun of Wufei alongside Duo, and playing carefully with Will.

Relena loved watching the two children play, and wished that Sitara could have more contact with children her own age. It was a difficult situation; with most of the world still unaware of her daughter's existence and her relationship with her father, Relena and Heero had to chose carefully who and what they exposed their daughter to.

Relena inhaled deeply, enjoying the smell of the ocean mingling with the perfume of spring and summer flowers as it wafted through the house. She smiled, watching Heero cut the cake. He had done most of the planning for the party, taking the pressure off her. Heero had also been the one who had secretly invited their friends and family, convincing Une to let him use her channels and get in contact with those still on Mars, ensuring that Relena would get to see her brother and their friends, their family, after years of separation.

Heero had missed them, too. After spending months back on Earth, he was finding it difficult to stay complacent. Having no job and no purpose other than caring for his child and cultivating his relationship with Relena, he was restless. Planning the party had been the perfect outlet, and it gave him the chance to have the people around who could empathize with his position.

Trowa had given him a pat on the back when he had come, smiling at him as though he had planned whole situation regarding Heero's return himself. In reality, he'd had no idea Relena had ever been pregnant, let alone that she had been raising Sitara alone, but Heero had been miserable on Mars, and he had figured, regardless of what he found, returning to Earth would be healing for his friend. Quatre had filled him in on the details when he had arrived; he and Relena had frequent contact over the years since the war, as he helped to try and develop diplomatic trade relations with Earth and between the colonies, and the two had grown to be good friends.

As they were served with cake, Relena took hers and chose to sit next to Quatre, watching as Heero helped Sitara eat, telling her to get through what she had before she could pile more ice cream on her plate. She smiled, turning to look as Quatre and Trowa stared at her daughter, mesmerized. "So," she said, abruptly drawing their attention, "have you two given any consideration to a wedding day?" Relena knew she was making a leap, but judging from the looks on their faces, she had hit a nerve. The couple looked at each other before Quatre answered.

"I hadn't thought too much about it, honestly… the colonies aren't as accepting of this type of thing as they are on Earth." He smiled at Trowa sadly before concentrating on his cake, moving his spoon around in the quickly melting ice cream.

"Stuck in the same old ideals they were built on," Trowa added, leaning back to look around Quatre at Relena. "The colonies are much more resistant to change than Earth, they don't have the exposure to so many cultures outside their own. It's like they're stuck in their own bubble."

Relena sighed. "Well, do you plan on returning to Mars soon?" It was Trowa's turn to avert his eyes, looking first at Quatre, then back at Sitara. Realizing she had asked the wrong questions, Relena got up. "Well, it seems like you have a lot to talk about. Let me know when you find out what you're doing, I'll do whatever I can to help you."

__

To get over your stage fright,  
Baby it's me and you tonight.  
So, get over your stage fright (Of love)  
Stage fright (Of love)  
Stage fright (Of love)  
Stage fright…  


Heero sat down on the couch next to Wufei, watching while his daughter played with the toys and gifts she'd been given, bringing up each new acquisition to show him before putting it back onto the pile and selecting another. When she had finally gotten through all of them, Sitara began the same pattern with her aunt and uncle, who both smiled as she explained how each toy worked. Milliardo picked her up and held her in his lap while she showed him her current favorite, a light-up magic wand. She had taken to making Heero or Relena read her favorite fairy tales to her each night, even learning the words to a few of them on her own.

Heero smiled gently before grabbing his beer off the table and taking a long drink. Wufei did the same, the two men comfortable with the silence. It was cut unfortunately short by Duo nearly crash-landing on the couch on Heero's opposite side, flicking the TV onto the local sports network and elbowing Heero.

"So, when you and Relena tying the knot? It's been months you know. Get your shit together!" he joked, hassling his friend.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you both about that," Heero said, putting his beer back down and leaning back in the chair. "Don't tell Relena, but I've started putting some things together.."

"Oh, isn't that cute," Wufei said, taking another drink of his beer. "Six months of being a father and you're already having a mid-life crisis. Wedding planning seems like your thing," he continued, ignoring the glare he was getting from the young man. Duo just laughed.

"That bored, huh? You shoulda asked me, there's plenty I could use help with at the shop." Duo had taken to fixing up and selling older model cars. He loved working with his hands, and Heero often joined him in the garage, picking parts and helping him with the two-man jobs.

Heero shook his head. "She needs me here. You know how busy it is around. Someone's gotta be here for Sitara and keep things running, so that's what I do."

"Okay, so what's the deal then? You're actually planning the wedding? " Duo asked, trying to keep his voice low enough that neither Relena nor Noin would overhear. There were no secrets between the women of their group, as he had learned after getting many slaps to the back of the head from Hilde after she'd been out gossiping with Relena.

"Not really," he said. "I have no idea where to even start. I need a way to convince the others to stay for the wedding. Most are due to go back to Mars in a few weeks…"

"So why not just have it sooner, then?" Wufei asked, genuinely interested in his friend's situation. "Relena has the Summit going on in South Africa next month anyways, she'll be gone for ages. Any way you plan it, it'll have to be before or after that."

Duo nodded in agreement. "And the Summit's always caused problems everywhere, anyways. Always lots of riots and shit to deal with for weeks after the meetings… Better to get 'er done beforehand, I say."

Heero sighed, considering his options. "This isn't just anybody's wedding, it's hers," he said, looking towards his fiancé. She was sitting at the table, talking with Une and Dorothy, presumably about the upcoming Summit they would all be attending. "Barely anyone knows we're together, I don't know how to just say 'by the way, we're getting married in two weeks'."

Wufei looked at Duo, who was already grinning. Heero knew the look well. "I don't know what you're thinking, but just stop right now."

Duo laughed. "No way man. Wufei and I'll make a promise to you right now: you plan everything, get it all together, and we'll get your bride there, no questions asked."

_Now I know you feel everybody's eyes on you,  
but just focus on me I'll be the one to guide you through.  
Baby I know you were made for this, _

'_Cause there's still a show now…  
So, don't hold back baby let's go,  
Just sit back and let love take control…  
_

Quatre and Trowa decided to spend the days after the party helping Heero plan for the wedding. Realizing the only such ceremony he had ever been to was a small, officiated affair on Mars for Duo and Hilde, Heero was thankful for all the help he could get. They met at a nearby bistro in New Port, a newly built, tiny place, far enough out of the way that they could count on privacy and quiet while they worked.

"Is it really necessary to keep this all a secret?" Quatre asked, looking through sample books he'd had one of his sisters send in. Her own wedding had been recent, and so she had dozens of fabric samples, pictures of floral arrangements and the contact numbers for churches and cathedrals in the area. "I'm sure she wouldn't be opposed if she understood your reasoning."

Heero took his coffee from the waitress who walked up, thanking her before answering the blonde man. "I doubt it. She's barely even talked about getting married since I asked her… I mean, she's suggested things, ideas she has, but nothing concrete. I'm tired of waiting. I want her to know I'm serious about this."

Trowa nodded, completely understanding. "You can't blame her. It's only been a few months, it's a pretty big adjustment to get used to in such a short time."

The three men ate in silence, Quatre noting a few different things he thought Relena would like. He undoubtedly knew the ins and outs of wedding planning better than the other two, having helped plan over a dozen for his own sisters. Quatre also knew Relena well, which Heero hoped would help them make choices regarding the wedding that would be to her tastes.

"Her favorite flowers are peonies, right?" Quatre asked him, and he nodded. "I like this arrangement. Very fresh, but it's not over the top." Heero couldn't say he had much of an opinion, he just wanted Relena to be happy.

"What's her favorite colour?" Trowa asked.

"Blue."

"Favorite book?"

"_East of Eden_."

"Season?"

"Spring."

"See?" Trowa said, leaning back and drinking his own coffee. "You know more than you think. Just sit back, relax, and let us help you out. The hardest part will be through in no time, and the rest is up to you."

"Mr. Winner! Please, answer a few questions?" The young female reporter had been pestering him all day as he went about helping Heero with a few errands, visiting florists and getting suits fitted for himself and the other groomsmen, fixing dresses for the bridesmaids. Quatre sighed as he saw the girl run up to them. Himself, Heero and Sitara had been eating outside at the same little bistro they met at before, enjoying the summer weather.

"Mr. Winner, who's your company today?" the girl asked, a recorder in one hand and a pen and paper in the other.

Quatre looked at Heero, who shrugged. They had known people would begin asking questions sometime, so Quatre answered, "This is my friend Heero Yuy, and his daughter, Sitara."

The reporter's eyes opened, and he suddenly realized he'd made a mistake. He watched Heero write something on a napkin while the reporter collected herself, as if preparing for an interrogation. "Mr. Yuy, is this the same girl we've seen so often with the Foreign Minister, Relena Darlian?" Heero slid the napkin across the table before answering.

"Yes, actually, she is," he answered bluntly, just as Quatre read _Go with it._

"Really?... I mean, you're saying she's related to this child?"

"Yes, I'm Sitara's father, Relena Darlian is my fiancée."

Sitara beamed at the woman, her cheeks dimpling. "Yep, yep. This is my daddy!" she said, patting her father on the sleeve.

The reporter looked as though she had just found a diamond mine. "So you two aren't married…"

"That would be correct. Is there anything else you need?" Heero said dismissively, reaching over to cut up some more of Sitara's meal.

"Well, we've been noticing over the past few days—"

"Stalking us, you mean," Heero corrected, still refusing to look at the woman.

"Well, we have been following you two quite a bit, yes. It seems you've been making preparations for a wedding. Are you and Miss Relena getting married soon? There's rumor that the _grande cathedrale_ in Brussels has been booked for a few weeks from now, under Mr. Winner's name. Are you and Miss Relena getting married then?"

Heero looked at Quatre, ushering him an unspoken apology before answering. "No, actually," he said, just as Trowa walked out onto the small patio. "These two are," Heero finished, pointing nonchalantly toward his companions.

…_To get over your stage fright,  
Baby it's me and you tonight.  
So get over your stage fright (Of love)  
Stage fright (Of love)  
Stage fright (Of love)  
Stage fright…_

"_Go with it!_ How in the hell was I supposed to go with _that?" _Quatre yelled at Heero was they walked down the street, heading out of the city.

"What else was I supposed to say?" Heero said, holding Sitara's hand as they turned around a corner.

"Well, not lying out your ass would have been a good place to start," Trowa replied, angry.

"Daddy, what's a _ass_?" Sitara asked, looking up at him innocently.

Heero glared at Trowa. "Nothing, Tara." He picked up the little girl before stopping and looking at Trowa. "I told you a long time ago to act on your emotions, and you took it like a man, then. What happened? You've loved Quatre since the moment you met him, we all know that. If you hadn't, you would have blown his brains out. If anything, I did you two a _favor_." He kept walking, leaving Trowa stunned in his wake.

"Heero, we can't just _get married_, it doesn't work like that!" Quatre said, his blood pressure rising.

"Why not? You're on Earth, you're in love. No one here is going to judge you."

"And when I get back? And what about Trowa, did you think of that? He's due to leave for Mars in a month. What happens after that?"

Heero looked at Quatre now, thinking. "I think that's for him to decide, but I can tell you this: him and I, we're not so different. All I wanted was for Relena to tell me to stay. Not to ask, not to say she wanted it, to _tell me_. We both need to be needed. You didn't realize it, neither did Relena. Now you both get to get married."

Quatre had to fight the urge to slap Heero and then slap himself. He stopped walking, fists balled at his sides, desperately trying to calm himself down. Trowa stepped over to him while Heero waited a few steps down the street.

"Quatre…" Trowa said gently, placing a hand on his lover's neck, raising his head so he could look into his blue eyes.

"Is it true?" Quatre asked, looking back at him.

Trowa sighed, taking his hand away to run it through his hair. "Quatre, I love you…"

"But you think I don't need you," his partner finished, looking away from him. He laughed slightly, unclenching his fists. "Do you have any idea how wrong you are?" Mimicking Trowa, he reached a hand up to the taller man's face. "These past few years… have been hell for me. The only reason I stopped talking to you so much was to try to stop hurting… I threw myself into my work because I wanted to distract myself from the fact that I missed you so much…" His eyes threatened tears, and he closed his eyes as Trowa knelt down to kiss him.

"I love you, Quatre," Trowa whispered, smiling. "If you wanted me to stay, you just had to ask…"

Quatre looked at him, smiling now. "Trowa Barton, will you marry me?"

Sitara, waiting less-than-patiently up ahead, tugged on her father's hand. "Daddy, how come they kissing?"

"Because they're in love, Tara."

She looked at him, puzzled. "But they both boys!"

The couple looked back at him now, waiting for his response. Trowa raised his eyebrow, smiling.

"Well, you can't pick who you fall in love with, honey," he answered honestly, picking her back up.

"Does that mean I can kiss girls?" Quatre and Trowa both started laughing, walking over to catch up to them. Heero just ran a hand down his face, trying to come up with his best example of a fatherly, yet fair, answer.

"Honey," Trowa said, petting the little girl's hair, "when you're older and married, you can kiss whoever you want."

…_. You look so lovely, lovely  
Oh baby you, you look so lovely, lovely…._

__The day of the wedding came, and as Duo had so deftly put it, the three grooms were "shitting their pants". Trowa paced the room he and Heero had shared as they were dressed and groomed, courtesy of a few of Relena's staff members. They had on matching tuxedos, similar to the one Quatre also had on, black with white dress shirts and black vests. Duo, Wufei and Milliardo had on similar suits, their vests a deep blue, matching the long gowns the bridesmaids wore.

Quatre was monitoring the _cathedrale_ and on the phone constantly since that morning with the staff of the reception hall they were heading to after the ceremonies. There had been more to handle than he or Heero had thought, especially since it turned out to be a double ceremony, and so he had gone into 'wedding-planner overdrive', distracting himself from the fact that possibly the biggest day of his life had been thrust into his lap literally overnight.

A knock came on the door, and Hilde slipped inside, holding Will. "Hey, boys," she said, kissing Heero and Trowa on the cheeks. "Everything's gonna be fine. Duo just called, he and Wufei picked up Relena, she's on her way, so we're gonna get you guys up to the altar to get ready. You ready?" she asked, clapping Heero on the arm.

He nodded, swallowing deeply, before following her out. Most of the pomp and circumstance of the wedding had been cut out due to the fact that Relena had no clue it was _her own wedding_ she was attending. Walking into the chapel, he couldn't believe the attendance; the entire place was filled, from the ground up to the mezzanine, politicians, friends, colleagues, and fellow workers of the Preventers monitoring the doorways.

The whole thing had been set up to be Quatre Winner's wedding, and so many of the same people who would attend Relena's wedding were there already, and the security was in place to keep her safe. Heero took another deep breath before looking at Trowa, who nodded his head. The two of them walked in, photographers snapping pictures and, once they reached the front pews, their friends smiling and wishing them good tidings. They took their places beside each other at the altar, but it was still close enough to the guests that they could hear the whispers.

"Isn't that that man, Heero Yuy? What's he doing here? There's no way he could really know someone like Quatre Winner," one woman whispered.

"I wouldn't count on that," her friend answered haughtily, "after all, he is the father of Relena Darlian's baby."

"No! I thought that was just rumor!"

"I still can't believe someone so good looking could be gay."

"I know, it's practically offensive to women."

"I blame all those sisters."

Trowa rolled his eyes, looking at the young women waiting across the altar from them. Hilde smiled broadly, clasping her hands together as she waited for her husband and the bride to arrive. Dorothy stood next to her, examining her nails carefully, looking as though she were bored to tears, Sally looking slightly apprehensive, watching the door. Minutes passed, and Heero began to worry as well. Not that Relena hadn't shown up yet, but that Duo and Wufei had never outlined exactly how the planned on getting her there.

Relena, in her home outside the city, had found herself confronted by the two young men.

She had been preparing for Quatre and Trowa's sudden wedding. She sat in front of her vanity, having styled her own hair into an intricate updo, selecting her favorite pair of earrings and doing her makeup simply but stylishly, lining her eyes in a thin line of black and putting up a red gloss. She heard a knock at the door and told whomever it was to come in.

Duo and Wufei walked in behind her, Duo grinning practically from ear to ear. Wufei held her hands at her sides while Duo blindfolded her, entirely ignoring her protests.

"What is this about? Duo, this isn't funny. I don't care what version of a joke this is, we have someplace to be!"

"And we'll _get you there_, sweetheart, but we've gotta get you changed first."

Wufei raised an eyebrow, putting up his hands. "I am not sticking around for that," he said, backing away from the young woman.

Relena sighed, throwing up her hands. "And what, exactly, do I get for going along with this?"

"Trust me, it's gonna be the surprise of a lifetime."

Relena felt a nervousness brewing in the pit of her stomach, something that she couldn't define beginning to weigh on her conscience. She lifted her arms as she was told to, feeling her dress coming off and being instructed to step into a new one. She felt the bodice cinch around her waist and something being placed into her hair. She was helped into a new pair of shoes and walked out of her room by the arm.

Duo whistled when she came out of the room. "Well man, you think she's ready?"

"Looks good to me," his accomplice said, taking Relena's hand and guiding her out of her home and into the car.

"You know, I'm pretty sure this is the kind of thing you're supposed to _keep_ from happening to me, _Agent Chang," _Relena said, sitting in the back seat of one of Duo's refurbished 'project cars'.

"Yeah, probably, but for this, I'm willing to get fired," he replied, smiling slightly at Duo.

The rest of the drive consisted of Relena insisting on being told what was going on, and the men in the front seats completely ignoring her. "Take the back entrance, we don't want anyone to see her," Duo said, directing Wufei on where to go. They stepped out of the car and guided her out, up a flight of stairs and into some kind of building.

"Alright," Duo said, standing in front of her. "Here are the conditions of the surprise. You can accept or reject it, but after I take the blindfold off, there's no changing your mind."

Relena scoffed. "That's a pretty terrible gamble on my part then, isn't it," she replied, the tension in her stomach growing.

"Well, depends on whether or not you think the ends are worth it," he replied. "Wufei and I do, this gamble worked out pretty well for the both of us when we took it."

"I'm not sure I even want to know," Relena said. She sighed again, getting slightly irritated. "Fine," she said. "Fine. I accept your stupid joke, it's a risk I'm willing to take," she shouted, dramatic and sarcastic flair added to her statement.

"Oh, honey," Duo said, unfastening the blindfold. "I really hope you don't end up eating those words."

Relena caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror and gasped.

_…So let love take over you tonight, let go of your butterflies.  
So let love take over you tonight, let go of your butterflies…._

"What… what in the hell did you _do_," Relena asked, phrasing it less like a question and more like a death threat. She turned on Duo menacingly, grabbing him by the lapels of his tuxedo and pushing him up against the mirror. "This is _not my wedding_," she said, punctuating the words with punches to his collarbone. Duo smiled, expecting the reaction.

"Well, doncha want to marry him?" he asked, taking ahold of her hands.

"Oh, don't you touch me," she said, pushing him away again before turning on Wufei. "And _you!_ I expected better from you. Teaming up with this moron! I can't get married today!" she cried, picking up the skirt of her dress. _My __wedding__ dress,_ she thought, beginning to panic. "I mean look at me! Look at this place!"

"We are looking at you, and you look terrific," Wufei said, taking her shoulders and pointing her back towards the mirror. "Look at yourself. Look at this room," he said, pointing to the decorations that were scattered around the lobby of the cathedral. "Everything here was picked out specifically for you. Heero's been planning this for almost a month. Quatre and Trowa's thing was basically a cover."

"What?" she asked, stupefied.

"It's true," Duo said, backing up his friend. "He told us about it when we were around for Tara's birthday. He said you hadn't asked him about getting married at all, and he wanted to plan it all out for you two since you were so busy."

"But why the secret? Why deceive me into marrying him?" Relena asked, frowning.

"Did he? He asked you, and you said yes. Does the timing really matter?" Wufei turned the young woman around so he could look her in the eye. "I've never seen Heero Yuy scared before in my life. We three got locked in prison once, knowing we were going to die, and he looked calmer then than he did this morning. He's scared shitless, Relena. He couldn't stand to lose you."

Duo nodded. "So he wanted to make you an offer you couldn't refuse."

Relena stood still for a moment, taking in everything. "So you're telling me he planned all this."

"Well, I helped," Quatre said, walking up beside her. "Been around the block a few times, and he needed help." He took his friend's hands, squeezing them in his own. "Come on, Relena. These guys need us, and whether or not we admit it, we need them."

Relena breathed slowly, trying to quell the queasiness threatening to consume her. "Don't be nervous. All you have to do is repeat after the priest and do what he says." Relena nodded, steeling herself.

"Alright," she answered. "Okay. Alright. Let's go."

Quatre smiled, motioning for the other men to follow him. "You wait here. Your brother is coming to walk you down the aisle," he said, giving her hand one last squeeze before he headed into the cathedral, closing the door behind him.

Milliardo appeared out of the door just after they left, looking her over critically. "The dress is beautiful," he said, offering his little sister his arm.

"Thank you. Quatre did a good job picking it," she said.

"Relena, are you ready for this?" her brother asked, concerned. "This isn't a choice you should let anyone talk you into. And you know how I feel about _him_," he finished, grimacing slightly.

"I'm sure," she said, straightening her posture and taking his arm as the band started playing her wedding march. _I'm sure_…

_To get over your stage fright  
Baby it's me and you tonight  
So get over your stage fright (Of love)  
Stage fright (Of love)  
Stage fright (Of love)  
Stage fright…._

Relena let her brother guide her down the aisle, trying to keep from looking completely stunned at the sheer number of people gathered for the ceremonies. _  
_

Quatre and Trowa's half of the ceremony flew by, the crowd applauding not only their marriage but also their courage, portraying their relationship for the entire world to see. They stood off to the side now, as the second couple took their place next to the priest. Lines had been recited in the traditional fashion, reminding both Relena and Heero continually of the life altering choice they were about to make. Finally, it came down to those fateful words…

"Do you, Relena Darlian, take Heero Yuy to be your husband, to have and to hold him, to honor him, to treasure him, to be at his side in sorrow and in joy, in the good times, and in the bad, and to love and cherish him all the days of your life?" The priest asked.

Time seemed to hold still for a few moment, tension hanging in the air, before Relena took a deep breath and answered, "I do."

It took all of Heero's self-control to wait for the priest to be done speaking before he choked out "I do," smiling more brightly than any of his friends had ever seen him do before.

"Then you may kiss your bride," the priest said, this time not finishing his sentence before Heero stepped forward, swept Relena into his arms, and kissed her. Finally separating, the two looked into each other's eyes, smiling, until finally Sitara broke the moment, breaking away from her aunt's grasp and running over to her parents.

"When do we get cake!"

The couple looked at her, still smiling, as Heero reached down and picked her up, both her parents putting their arms around her to kiss her on her cheeks.

_…So let love take over you tonight, let go of your butterflies  
So let love take over you tonight, let go of your butterflies._


	5. Always

A/N: So, I know this fic doesn't fit as well with the song, but I really wanted to use this song anyways, and couldn't find any other that would necessarily fit better. Don't forget, this chapter contains spoilers for _Never Say Never_, so if you haven't read that yet, I'd recommend it! (You can find it in my profile!)

I don't own the lyrics to _Always_, it is a song written and performed by Panic! at the Disco.

Anyways, read, enjoy, and let me know if you'd like to see more!

-picimadar

**Always**

_When the world gets too heavy,_  
_put it on my back,_  
_I'll be your levy._  
_You are taking me apart_  
_like bad glue on a "get well" card…_

It had been almost a year since Quatre and Trowa had taken custody of their tragically orphaned nieces and nephews, and the dark-haired man thought it had been about as long since he had gotten a good night's sleep. Stealing a glance at this bedside clock, he groaned as he sat up. _3:05 AM_, it read, and Trowa stretched tiredly as he stood up and checked the blinking computer like that had so rudely awakened him. "I don't see anything… so why in the hell did you wake me up?" The dark-haired man was growling now, clicking through screens so he could view the various security cameras set up around their family home in Brussels. "Wait, wait, wait." Trowa clicked on a specific camera, and just as he saw the offending movement that had triggered the alarm, he heard a sob come from the baby monitor next to the bed. "Great," he said, frustrated, pushing his chair away from the computer desk and stepping out of his room.

By the time he got to Maimun's room the infant girl was crying hard, her tiny arms struggling against the soft bed sheets of her crib. "Shhh," Trowa started saying before he even reached the child. "Shhh, you're okay. Hush, I'm here." He coddled the girl, propping her against his shoulder and patting her back through her fleecy sleeper. "Oh, come on now…. Yes, I know. Life is hard." He stopped for a second, looking at himself in the large mirror they had installed in the nursery. "Good lord. I'm talking to a baby. I need… so much sleep," the new father said, stifling a yawn, as he carried the baby girl out of her nursery and to the stairs.

Just as he reached the bottom, the real reason he had gotten out of bed appeared: Isra Winner-Campbell stumbled into the house, cursing as he came, Alef following closely behind with a stern look on his face. "Get in the house, before anyone hears you," he said, closing the door behind him.

"Too late," Trowa said, looking the two boys over carefully. "It's the middle of the night; you were supposed to be home four hours ago. What happened?" Though he was generally uninterested in the almost certain lie that Isra was about to tell him, Trowa was trying to learn to be more patient with the boy, not that it made much difference.

"None of your fucking business," the younger boy said, nearly falling over as he balanced on one foot, trying to take off his shoes.

"Hey, shut your trap. Don't talk to him like that," Alef said before Trowa could respond, looking at him apologetically. "I tried to get him out of there, but it was a real scene… The cops showed up shortly after I did. We had to wait for them to finish processing everything." Isra threw a shoe at his brother, who dodged it deftly.

"The police showed up to an eighth-grade graduation party? Isra, what on Earth were you doing?" Trowa tried to approach the boy, noting the stinging smell of cheap alcohol and cigarettes as he laughed.

"What _weren't_ we doing? Man, what a night," he said, brushing past his guardian and heading for the dimly lit kitchen.

Alef shook his head and went after him, Trowa and the baby following after. "By the time I showed up at eleven they were all already drunk off their asses. I don't know how they got ahold of it, but Essie's parents have been charged, as well as some of the older kids who were there." Alef waited to see if his words had any effect on his brother, but the boy simply continued to rummage through the refrigerator. "Isra was helping his friends funnel liquor into a girl who had passed out."

"She was fucking fine, she just fell asleep," Isra said, unapologetic, through a mouthful of food.

"Isra, are you insane? You could have killed her! You're just looking the cops brought paramedics with them. They had to take her to the hospital to treat her for alcohol poisoning. You're just fucking lucky they didn't catch you, or they'd-" Alef never finished his sentence as a jar of intended to hit him flew across the room, cracking as it hit the wall behind him. "What the fuck!" he shouted as Isra threw other projectiles at him.

Trowa ducked away, trying to hide the baby while also trying to shout at Isra. "Hey, stop that right now! I'm not joking!" The boy continued to ignore him, moving on to throwing eggs, fruit and anything else he could put his hands on.

Amira came around the corner of the kitchen door and shrieked as Trowa nearly ran over her trying to avoid the food fight. "Sorry, honey," he said quickly. "Here, here, take the baby and go into the living room. Just go, Amira. Careful with her head." Amira nodded, her eyes wide with curiosity and fear as she carefully held the baby and ducked away into the living room. Trowa took off into the nearby office room, unlocking the safe and grabbing something. By the time Trowa walked into the kitchen again, the two brothers were screaming at each other, and Isra was brandishing a knife menacingly.

"You fucking liar! You promised you wouldn't tell anybody!" He took a step closer to Alef, who was now backing away from him around the counter island, trying to keep as much space between them as possible. "I'm not going to fucking jail because you can't keep your mouth shut!" Just as the boy went to run around the island, Trowa shouted.

"That's it, I've _had it!"_ The boys looked up to see Trowa standing in the doorway, a small handgun between him and the now filthy kitchen. "Put it down, now," Trowa said, waving the gun casually at the knife block on the counter.

"Fuck you," Isra said, tightening his grip on the weapon. "You wouldn't shoot me."

Trowa disengaged the safety with a resounding _click_. "Try me," he replied stoically, leveling the gun at his nephew.

"Quatre would never forgive you," Isra said, smiling almost maniacally now.

"He's forgiven me for worse than protecting my family." Trowa took a step toward the boy. "If it means hurting you to protect the others, I would." He kept approaching the boy slowly, taking each step quietly. "But I don't want to do that, and I don't think you want to hurt them, either. You're hurting. I can see that. But bottling it up isn't going to help keep anyone else safe from pain. Your sister is in the other room terrified because of you. Is that what you want?"

Trowa lowered his gun, standing next to the broken young man. Isra's hand wavered, tears beginning to run down his face. "That's what I thought. Give me the knife," he said quietly, and Isra complied. As soon as he had it in his hand, Trowa tossed it deftly across the room, impaling the end in the soft wood cabinets. Both boys looked at him with expressions of shock. Trowa just laughed quietly. "It's my job to take care of you two, but I can't do that if you won't let me."

Just then, Amira shouted, and the three men in the kitchen looked up to the new arrival standing by the kitchen door, staring at the mess on the floor, the knife embedded in the cabinetry, and the gun in Trowa's hand. "What… What on Earth have you been _doing_ while I was gone?"

_It was always you (falling for me)._  
_Now there's always time (calling for me)._  
_I'm the light blinking at the end of the road,_  
_Blink back to let me know._

Across the city, Wufei Chang was also struggling with lost sleep. Having one new baby in the home would have been difficult enough, but with twins, the amount of work involved seemed somehow quadrupled. Between work and his home life, Wufei and Sally had barely been seen anywhere but Relena's home for Sitara's birthday that past spring, and it was beginning to get tiresome.

Even though he was exhausted, Wufei could only lay awake in bed that night, watching his wife sleep deeply, listening to the crackle of the baby monitor and the sounds of the late-summer crickets chirping. Sighing, he gave up on the pretense of rest and decided to catch up on some paperwork, extracting himself from his bed to avoid waking Sally. Dragging his feet as he walked, Wufei reached the kitchen and poured himself a huge glass of juice before settling down at the kitchen table and opening up the laptop he had left there the night before. Typing in a few different passcodes, Wufei looked over the files he had left open to get his bearings before beginning to continue typing, his hands flying over the keys. He worked in silence, undisturbed, before his instant messenger sent him a beep.

"Who's up this time of night?" He wondered to himself, before mentally kicking himself as he remembered quickly who, exactly, all his friends were. "Oh, right. Probably everyone." He clicked the flashing icon, and the messenger window opened up.

"_Hey, you busy?"_ Trowa asked, and Wufei read in surprise. It was unexpected to see the man wanting to speak to him specifically, so Wufei answered quickly.

"_Yep, I'm just catching on paperwork, but it's nothing important. What is it?" _ A few moments passed, and for a second Wufei thought Trowa was simply ignoring him.

"_I pulled a gun on Quatre's nephew tonight." _Wufei almost spit out the mouthful of juice he'd half-swallowed as he read.

"_Well is he okay?"_

"_He's fine, physically. Emotionally he's entirely fucked up. I'm not his father, and he won't talk to me… what the hell am I supposed to say to this kid? Tonight he came home drunk as a skunk and pulled a knife on his brother. Apparently he helped give some girl alcohol poisoning at a party."_

"_God, isn't he 14?"_

"_Barely. I mean, this just isn't behavior I'd expect from him. Alef just graduated too, and even he's just been buckling down, trying to get his extracurriculars set up for college. I'd expect it from Alef, but from a kid?" _He paused for a minute, and Wufei considered how to respond.

"_Well, considering what we were doing at fourteen, I guess it's not so bad._" He almost smiled to himself, taking another drink. Putting things into perspective had always worked for him, and Wufei hoped it would give his friend some insight.

"_You're right. I know what I'm going to do. Thanks, Wufei. You're a life saver."_ With that, Trowa logged off quickly, leaving Wufei to keep working.

Trowa quickly closed the window before his friend could object and began searching for campground reservations, packing clothes and getting the car ready. By the time he walked into Isra's room in the morning, everything was ready.

"You're sure about this?" Quatre said quietly, standing next to him in the doorway.

"I think so. They've gotta find out sometime, and at least out in the wilderness there's less for him to pick up and kill me with." Quatre winced at his husband's frankness, but watched as Trowa walked in and shook the boy less than gently. "Get up," he said stoically, ignoring the boy's curses. "You're hungover, you'll get over it if you get up and eat something. Here," he said, putting an apple in the kid's hand before essentially dragging him out the door.

"Aww, what the fuck!" Isra shouted, having little to no strength to fight the older man. "It's like ten a.m.! What are you trying to do, kill me?"

"Already did that, remember? We're going away for the week, now get your shoes on and get in the car." Isra complied, shoving the apple into his jaw before stumbling over tying his shoes and walking out the front door.

"Well, if I'm not back by then you better tell Uncle Quatre where to dig up my corpse!"

Quatre sighed before kissing his husband goodbye. "Have a good week, and don't be too hard on him. He's lost more than either of us can even understand."

"I know. I don't expect to make some breakthrough in a week, but hey. We have nothing but time." Trowa smiled almost deviously, closing the front door behind him.

_I'm a fly that's trapped in a web,_  
_But I'm thinking that my spider's dead._  
_Oh lonely, lonely little life._  
_I could kid myself in thinking that I'm fine…_

"This job is going to kill me," Relena finally said to herself, letting her head fall into her hands as she finally stopped going over her notes. It was early in the morning, and she had worked all through the night to prepare for the upcoming elections, perfecting speeches, working on platforms. "All for a job I don't even know if I want…" She sighed again before standing up and throwing back the heavy blinds that covered the floor-to-ceiling windows in her office. The day was bright and beautiful, the air clean and the sky a deep blue. A tiny knock came at her door, and Sitara walked in.

"Ma, dad says breakfast is ready, and you know he gets the 'food mood' if you make him wait too long." She smiled at her mother. "He's got Flo' down with him too. Hey, everything alright?"

Relena looked back up at her daughter, seeming to snap back to reality. "Of course Tara, everything is fine. I'm just a bit tired, that's all."

"Well, don't be! It's the circus this weekend, remember? We're supposed to go see aunt Catherine with Will and the babies!" _Of course_, Relena thought to herself, knowing by 'babies' she was referring to Mai and Li, Sally's new twins.

"I didn't forget, I just stored it somewhere in by brain so well that I couldn't find it," Relena tried to recover, smiling as she walked over and put an arm around her daughter.

"Suuuure, mom. Whatever you say." The young girl laughed before taking off out of the office and into the kitchen area. Relena followed with a little less exuberance, walking along the hardwood floor and into the kitchen. Her new baby boy, Florian, was sitting at the dining table already, clanging his baby-sized utensils against his plate and shrieking loudly, making it clear he approved of the noise. Heero was reading the morning paper while supervising the little boy out of the corner of his eye, making sure that at least some of the boy's food actually made it into his mouth.

"Morning," Relena said as she climbed into her chair, looking at the vast array of fruit, croissants, French toast and juices that were scattered about the table hungrily before serving herself. Sitara also reached around the table, asking her father to pass her a few things before he finally put down the paper and too, began eating. Most of the breakfast passed in relative silence, Sitara cooing at Florian quietly, asking her father a few questions about the news. Just as the meal was wrapping up, Heero spoke.

"How was your night?" he asked quietly, refusing to meet his wife's eyes. Relena knew he was upset that she had neglected coming to bed with him, and she lowered her eyes guiltily.

"It was productive. I think everything is as good as it's going to get. Now I just have to make a presentation to the Parliament." She tore off a portion of her croissant and chewed on it thoughtfully. "I've actually got to go into the office for a while this afternoon, but I'll be back in time for the trip to the circus tonight. Maybe I could meet you in New Port?" She smiled, hoping her plan would cheer Heero up, but he just looked at her blankly.

"That's fine, we were planning on visiting Duo and Hilde today anyways. She wanted me to let you know it looks like they're expecting again. I forgot to tell you yesterday." Heero leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek, almost impersonally. "Come on, Tara. Grab your back-pack, I'll get Flo into the car."

Relena continued to sit at the table, almost stunned, as her family packed up and left without her.

_It was always you (falling for me),_  
_Now there's always time (calling for me)._  
_I'm the light blinking at the end of the road,_  
_Blink back to let me know._

"Hey, hey! Get away from the road!" Duo shouted, and Will looked back at him cheekily before running off the sidewalk and back into their small front yard.

"There's not even any cars!" he shouted back, putting the ball he carried back down on the lawn before kicking it hard.

"Here, buddy, look. You gotta kick it with the side of your foot, not your toes, see?" Duo demonstrated, running after the soccer ball and pushing it back toward his son, who did his best to mimic the instructions. "Awesome, much better!" Duo srubbed a hand through his son's hair. "Hey, you had a bath this morning, didn' you?" When Will nodded, his father looked at him with a conniving glare. "Then you know what time it is: _wrestling time!"_

Hilde groaned from her perch at the top of the porch, watching her fully-grown husband roll around like a child with their now school-aged son, kicking up dust and dirt as the two grunted and yelled, struggling around on the ground. She watched as a familiar car rounded the corner, and jumped up off her seat to approach the driveway as the car pulled up. Oblivious, Duo and Will continued to wrestle as Heero unloaded Florian, Sitara walking up the driveway and opening the gate to their little home.

"Hi, Auntie," she said amicably, giving the older woman a hug while looking over at the scene in the yard. Tara shook her head before walking over to the porch and opening up a book she had brought with her, quickly becoming enraptured with the story. Hilde could not believe the girl was barely ten years old; she carried herself as though she were twice her age, her long dark hair falling down her back, her brow furrowed as she continued to read quietly. Hilde started when she felt an arm come around her shoulder, and looked up to see Florian Yuy looking at her, smiling as he recognized her.

"Well, hello there cutie!" Hilde said, holding her hands out to pick up the baby. "And hello to the baby, too," she added cheekily, hugging Heero with one arm before turning and walking back through the gate, swearing she heard him snort out a quiet laugh. "Relena didn't come with you?" Hilde asked sadly, and turned back to see Heero shaking his head.

"She was busy, but she said she'll be back for the circus tonight." Hilde frowned with sympathy as she looked into her friend's face, his deep blue eyes avoiding her gaze as he looked over her shoulder at Duo and Will, who were now laying on their backs, exhausted from the effort of their previous 'epic battle'. "Do I even want to know?" he asked, looking at Hilde with a raised brow.

Hilde just laughed, forgetting the tension of the previous moment. "Just you wait until this guy's grown up," she replied, shaking the little boy's soft hand. "He's gonna be a real butt-kicker, aren't you?" Blowing a raspberry on Florian's cheek, he shrieked out a laugh, and Heero couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, honey, you wanna come in and help me with lunch?" Sitara looked up from her book, using her finger to keep her place. "Sure. What did you need?" she asked, following Hilde inside.

"Dirt," Hilde said, immediately losing her false charm. "What's going on with your mom and dad, hmm?"

Sitara sighed. "I don't know. Mom's been working a lot, and Dad started back at work with a software developer, so they don't seem to see each other a lot. Now that I'm out of school they try to stick around more, but mostly I see Mari more than I see mom." She paused, looking up at Hilde. "Do you think she has post-partum?"

Hilde was somewhat surprised the girl knew the meaning of the term, let alone enough to ask earnestly about it. "I'm not sure, honey. I wasn't around on Earth when she had you, so I don't really know her history… did she only start staying away from home more after Flo was born? I mean, it could just be coincidence…" Hilde walked into the kitchen, kicking off her sandals. "Lena did take on the whole election campaign right after this li'l guy came about. Maybe she's just stressed about the whole thing."

Looking back over her shoulder, Hilde regretted even bringing up the subject, watching as Sitara clutched her book to her chest, her expression melancholy. "Do you think my parents are going to split up?" she asked quietly, her voice wavering slightly.

"Oh, honey. I don't think so. They've been through their rough times, everyone has. They've been through a lot more stress than this and come through, I'm sure it'll all be just fine." She put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It might be worth asking them about, sometime. How they met. I've heard it's a great story." Sitara looked up at her, curious, but Hilde cut her off before she could ask any questions. "Now come on over here, I've got some cookie batter you could pan up for me!"

Outside, Duo took a seat next to his friend on the porch steps where they sat, watching Will play with his ball. "So, spill it," he said, stretching his back out.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, don't give me that crap. You know Hilde's wringing your kid for into as we speak, so you might as well tell me now or I'll just get it third hand from her later." Heero glared at his friend, but his expression softened as he realized Duo was looking at him in earnest.

"I really don't know. Something's up with Relena. She doesn't come home, she doesn't sleep, she barely eats… She's always handled stress a little oddly, but now she doesn't even talk about it." He sighed, resting his elbows against his thighs.

"This happen after Flo was born, or before?" Duo asked. Heero looked at him questioningly, and he continued. "Hilde was the same way after Will was born, for a while. She'll kill me for telling you, but it's true. She was real depressed for a while. Just kinda stopped taking care of herself, you know?" Heero nodded. "Either way, she just talked to Sally about it and it kinda sorted itself. Maybe Lena just needs to talk to somebody? It's not like she has to deal with the same things we do, maybe she just thinks we wouldn't get it, you know?"

Heero looked away, offended. "Hey, man, I didn't mean it like that. Just… suggest it. She's smart, maybe she'll take it to heart." Just as he finished speaking, Will ran up.

"I'm thirsty, it's sooo hot!" Beads of sweat ran down his head, and his cheeks were pink with exertion.

"Well, how about a little while after lunch we take a dip in the pool, hmm?" Will cheered and ran into the house, leaving Duo smiling after him. "Wish we were all that easy to please." The two men stood up, and Duo put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, man. Either way, we're here for you guys, no matter what."

_That I'm skin and bone,_  
_just a cane and rusty throne._  
_Oh the castle's under siege,_  
_But the sign outside says "leave me alone!"_

"Man, where the hell are you taking me? We've been in the car for_ever_," Isra complained, staring at the passenger side window.

"We know, you've told us a hundred damn times already," Alef growled from the back seat, also tired and hungry.

"We're almost there," Trowa said almost cheerfully. "Another ten minutes or so."

"Jesus. I didn't even know Earth _had_ this much wilderness left." They had driven far north, away from Brussels and past even New Port, passing smaller and smaller villages until finally all that was around were trees, small lakes, and the animals that lived in the carefully preserved forest. Trowa had chosen the place himself, and they finally turned down a barely-used dirt road and came across a solitary wooden cabin built up on a hill.

"Oh, neat!" Alef said, leaning forward to look at the cabin. "I haven't been camping in ages."

"Not since dad died," Isra said, slowly uncrossing his arms and looking out at the approaching building. Finally the car came to a stop, and Trowa stepped out.

"Help me unload this stuff, guys, we'll need it all inside the house." They each took turns carrying in crates, boxes and bags, with surprisingly few complaints coming from Isra. A little over an hour later the sun was beginning to set, and Trowa set about building up a roaring fire in the pit behind the cabin. "Find those hot dogs?" he asked Alef, and the boy came out, a horrified look on his face.

"You gave him a _knife_?" he shouted, watching Isra carve some sticks.

"You gotta eat off something, fuckface," Isra shouted back, brandishing the small army knife at him.

"I'm not joking, don't point that thing at me," his brother continued, putting the hot dogs down and taking a seat on a cut-down log.

"Shut up," Isra mumbled. "You know that wasn't… anything, anyways." Alef looked at his brother, recognizing an apology when he got one.

"It's cool. But man, you were _fucked_. How much did you drink, anyways?" Alef smiled, waiting for a confession from his brother.

"Way, way too much. I can't believe I didn't barf my guts out. Never again." He put the pokers down on the ground next to his brother and moved to a seat closer to the fire. "I just can't quit thinking about that girl… I really hope she's okay."

"She's fine. I called the hospital this morning," Trowa cleared the boy's conscience quietly.

"You're lucky. My first time drinking I was sick as a dog for _days_. Even Wednesday I was a mess. Now you know why I just stayed over at Mari's… fuck." The boy realized his mistake, looking over at his adoptive guardian. "But nothing happened!" he quickly scrambled. "I just slept on the couch and then came home in the morning!"

Trowa scoffed a laugh. "You're a grown kid. What you do on your time isn't my problem unless you bring it home with you." The three men sat in silence for a while, putting hot dogs on the pokers and watching them sizzle in the heat.

"I'm sorry about that, you know," Isra finally said, not looking away from the mesmerizing flame. "It was retarded. I just wasn't thinking straight. Alef was being crazy, and the party was nuts… I just lost my mind. Everything just got fucked up." He looked at Trowa now, his dark eyes reflecting the light of the flame.

"I get it," he said, passing his poker to the boy so he could take out a few buns and place them on the rocks to warm. "My time as a teenager was pretty messed up to. The scene last night in the kitchen wouldn't even hold a candle to it, so I can't really blame you. I guess I just got all the 'teenaged craziness' out of my system in a different way."

"You and Uncle Quatre have never really told us anything about you when you were younger. I mean, you were his age when the War started, right?" Trowa nodded to Alef, who picked up one of the buns and slid the hot dog he'd cooked into it. "I mean, I know you know about Mari and stuff. She told me about it a while ago."

Trowa looked up, surprised, while Isra got curious. "What about your secret girlfriend?"

Trowa laughed. "Some secret." The two high-fived, leaving Alef blushing and furious on the other side of the fire.

"She's actually like, Treize Kushrenada's kid, or something," Alef said through a bite of his dinner.

"Holy shit! And you guys think _I'm_ the problem child?" Isra laughed, preparing his own meal. "That's crazy, man! And you're dating this kid? Frig." Alef just shrugged, continuing to eat.

"There's nothing wrong with Mari. She was practically a baby back then, anyways. She's grown up a lot. I actually like her, somewhat." Trowa ate as well, enjoying the taste the fire gave to the meat.

"Aren't you two like, related? You've got the same name," Isra pointed out.

"Not exactly. Trowa Barton isn't my real name." The two boys stopped chewing at his confession, staring at him. "I guess it's probably Triton Bloom, but I've never done the DNA test to prove it. It just isn't really important. I took the name from the original Trowa Barton, who started planning Operation Meteor."

"I'm sorry, operation what?" Isra said, cocking his head at the older man.

"It was supposed to be a mission to drop a colony onto Earth, making it unlivable. When I inherited his name, the mission changed. It became a mission to bring the Gundams to Earth instead."

"So you like, knew about the Gundams and stuff? No one will ever tell us anything about them in school, it's kinda just this taboo subject, but I've seen old videos. Man, just the engineering itself is amazing." Isra looked at his brother, who stared at him, disbelieving. "What? I like machines, okay?" Alef just shrugged, waiting for Trowa to continue the story.

"I did more than know about them," Trowa finally said, steeling his courage. "I piloted one." The two boys gasped.

"You're a lying shit. There's no way, you'd have been like 15! That's insane. No one makes a kid do something like that." Isra was leaning forward now, fascinated, while Alef began showing some signs of wariness.

"Kids made better pilots. We were more malleable, and our smaller bodies could better handle higher g forces. We were all chosen for a reason; I was piloting mobile suits a long time before the Gundams came along. I was orphaned when I was very little, you see." Trowa looked into the fire now, recalling his early childhood. "I was taken in by a militant group, they trained me to fight with them. So when the chance to pilot a Gundam came along, and I took it. It just made sense. I didn't have much else to live for, and with the war raging, the Gundams seemed like a good bet to control the violence." He grimaced slightly. "Which turned out to be a total farce. We caused more problems than we could fix, but in the end one of the pilots ended up saving the Earth, so I guess it all balanced out in the end."

He looked up at the boys finally, who sat in silence, watching him.

"Did you kill a lot of people?" Isra asked, and Alef hissed at him.

"Isra, you can't just ask people that!"

"Sure, you can. You're living with me, it's a pretty relevant thing to ask. The answer is yes, I did, and I regret it." Trowa leaned forward and poked a nearly disintegrated log. "But it was war. We all did what we had to."

"So that's how you know President Yuy, then," Alef surmised. "What about the others, then? Oh my god, are they…"

"Yes. I was 03. Your uncle Quatre was 04. Heero, Wufei and Duo were pilots as well… and Milliardo Peacecraft too, if you want to get technical."

"Man. And here I thought you were all just a bunch of boring rich guys,' Isra said. "I didn't know you were actually like, ass kickers. When you pulled that gun on me last night though I kinda had an inkling."

"No kidding. I got "_Mission Impossible_" vibes like none other. Totally makes sense now." The two younger men laughed nervously.

"Well, it's cool you told us," Isra finally said. "It's cool you brought us out here, too. We haven't gotten to do anything like this in a long time."

Trowa smiled. "Me neither."

_It was always you (falling for me),_  
_now there's always time (calling for me)._  
_I'm the light blinking at the end of the road,_  
_blink back to let me know._

"Mom!" Sitara shouted, and Florian squealed in his fathers arms, kicking to get away as their mother entered the fray of people around the circus tent.

"Hey, honey!" Relena said, hugging her daughter before kissing her son on the head, patting him gently. "How was your day?"

"It was good. Went for a swim in the new pool, Flo seemed to really like it." Heero bounced the little boy in his arms. "The water was beautiful, too. I wish you'd have been able to make it."

Relena looked up at her husband's face, a little surprised at him sharing his feelings so fluidly. "I wish I could have, too. I think that's going to be my first order of business if I get elected: completely barring weekend meetings." She smiled, and Heero pecked her on the lips.

"You do what you have to do," he replied, putting an arm around the small of her back and guiding her into the tent.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Sitara shouted, and for a moment her parents panicked. "Look tigers! Real ones! Oh wow. Oh look! Aunt Catherine's out there with them!" The girl was completely mesmerized, needing to be led by the hand to their seats on the portable benches. Duo whistled loudly and waved the family over, and they walked past many other adults and children, some casually whispering about their presence at the public affair.

"Hey!" Hilde shouted, and she rushed forward to hug Relena tightly. "It's so good to see you, sug! We were worried you'd dropped off the face of the Earth or something! Sally and Wufei are just over there with the tots," she said, nodding off to the far side of the bench they sat on. Relena waved, admiring the two small babies.

"Gosh, they must be walking already," she said, clapping her hands to her cheeks as she sat down. "I feel like such a bad friend. I never have the time for anything anymore…" she sighed, and felt Hilde take her hand tightly.

"Don't even apologize. It's not like we're going anywhere, but you'll only get the chance to really cinch all this government stuff once, you know?" Hilde smiled as she looked out over the circus pit. "You just gotta get home more and see your family. I know Heero's really been hurting for ya, and I think you know what I mean." Hilde winked cheekily, elbowing her blushing friend.

"Oh, get over it!"Relena shouted back, pushing the other woman away and looking back to where Catherine was standing, warming up for the performance. "Apparently Duo isn't 'hurting for it', I hear you've got another bun in the oven!" She shook a finger at her friend. "Seriously now, this better not be some kind of 'keeping up with the Joneses" thing, or I'm going to start getting concerned." The two women laughed, and Relena felt herself feel lighter than she had in months.

"Not at all. Must just be the time of year or something," Hilde said. She looked her friend over before taking her hand and pulling her close again. "You know we love you, right?" Relena nodded at her, looking at her strangely. "Good."

"Hey, Heero!" Quatre shouted from a little ways away, Amira in tow and Maimun held against his chest. "Sorry we're late, I wanted to get ahold of Trowa and the boys before I left home."

"Oh, so they're still alive?" Duo shouted, and Quatre sighed.

"Yes, apparently everything's fine. I'm really glad he took them out there, they needed someone to talk to about everything." He smiled settling down next to Sitara. "Enjoying the show?"

"Oh heck yes!" The little girl shouted, and all the adults began laughing. "Here, Amira, come with me, let's go stand by the front!"

Amira looked back at Quatre. "Can we?" she asked as Sitara took her hand.

"Of course sweetheart, just don't go anywhere without Tara, okay?" The two girls ran off, hand in hand.

"It's so good for her to have a friend her age," Relena said whistfully. "After everything that happened, she really withdrew from everyone at her school. It's good to see her finally bouncing back a bit. I'm sure the weekend away will do the boys so much good."

They were all quiet for a time, watching the show, and Heero slid over to sit closer to his wife, putting an arm around her shoulder and kissing her on the neck carefully. "I love you," he said, and he looked out over the crowd to where Catherine was now beginning her specialty knife-throwing act.

"I know, I love you, too." Relena sighed, relaxing into his hold. "I'm sorry for being away so much. Everything's just been really weighing me down, lately."

Duo looked over Relena's shoulder and raised tilted her chin up in a way that was a clear "I-told-you-so". "I know. You should have talked to me. You can always talk to me." He took hold of her chin and made her clear blue eyes meet his. "You know that, right?"

"I just never want to bring you into it. You've already had to put up with so much because of this stupid job, you and the kids… I just don't have the heart to put you through more." Her eyes were threatening to overflow with unshed tears, and Heero took his hand away from her face.

"We're a lot stronger than you think, you know. I wouldn't be with you if I couldn't handle the side effects." He kissed her again on the cheek before letting her go. "And you wouldn't be with me or do this job if you couldn't handle it, either." He smiled at her briefly, before Florian interrupted, shifting around on his lap.

"Come here you little stink!" Relena said, snatching the boy up and putting him on his lap. Florian quickly stopped struggling and slouched back into his mother's arms, enjoying her touch. After a few moments, Relena looked down at her son and smiled.

"It's all going to work itself out, right?" She asked Heero, and he squeezed her tightly.

"Everything's going to be absolutely fine."

_It was always you,_  
_(Blink back to let me know…)_  
_It was always you._


	6. Hate That I Love You

A/N: So. I posted this chapter once before, then removed it as it seemed to make the story 'lag'…. And now I'm posting it again. The flow just didn't feel right without it. Sorry for people who got notified and already read it.

Read, review, and enjoy!

-picimadar

**Hate That I Love You**

_That's how much I love you.  
That's how much I need you.  
And I can't stand you.  
Must everything you do make me wanna smile?  
Can I not like you for a while? No…_

"I just can't believe you're already graduating. Feels like yesterday you were just finishing up high school." Anne Une adjusted Mari's convocation gown carefully, tucking a stray lock of her bright red hair behind her ear. "You ready?"

"I think so," Mari said quietly, contemplative. "I got accepted to Harvard last night."

"Well, that's exciting. Do you think you'll go?"

Mar sighed before turning away from her mother and looking in the mirror. "I'm not sure. It's a long way away… there's just a lot to consider."

"Like Alef?" Une asked, and Mari winced.

"Mom, not today." Mari brushed past her and walked up to the door of the small bathroom they stood in, staring at her hand as she pushed against the door. "I know you don't like him, but at you could pretend to be happy for us. For me." With that the nervous young woman left the room and made her way to the gym, upset that her mother would be so abrasive about her life choices on the day that they finally graduated from university. Once she reached the main hall where the ceremonies would take place, Mariemaia mingled around briefly, greeting friends and familiar professors, congratulating others and being congratulated. The energy of the lobby was electric, and Mari had to remind herself a few times to keep breathing.

"Mari!" she heard as she excused herself from her favorite professor, and she turned to see Relena and her family coming up. "Congratulations, Mari!" Relena said, hugging the girl. "Here, these are for you," she continued, passing her favored intern an enormous bouquet of spring flowers.

"President Yuy, they're beautiful. Thank you." Mari kept the formalities for the other woman's sake.

"It's no problem, love. We're so proud of you! Have you seen Alef? I've got something for him, too, but I haven't seen him at all." Relena watched as Mari's face fell slightly.

"No, I haven't seen him yet either, but I haven't really spoken to him all day." Relena frowned sympathetically but chose not to pry, patting her apprentice on the shoulder.

"Well, I'll wait up front then. Surely he'll turn up when Trowa and Quatre arrive." Relena smiled, hoping to transfer some of the joy back into the younger girl's eyes. It seemed to work, and Mari excused herself before heading back into the crowd of people, holding her flowers close to her.

"That was odd. I didn't know her and Alef were having problems." Heero stood next to her, now, holding Florian in his arms to keep him out of the way of the graduates and their families.

"They had a big fight while I was over visiting Amira the other night," Sitara said, unsurprised. Heero looked down at her quizzically, and she shrugged. "Didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but I guess they haven't worked it out yet. Oh, hey!" Sitara waved, and her parents saw Quatre and Trowa walk into the already crowded lobby. "Amira!" The two girls hugged each other and immediately went off to chat and trade stories while the adults greeted each other warmly.

"Hey, about time we got to see you!" Relena said, hugging Alef. "Can't believe you're finishing college already. Gosh, I feel old." Relena looked almost self-conscious before laughing along with her friends. "Well, anyways, I think Mari was looking for you. You should go find her." Alef frowned and nodded before walking off quietly into the crowd.

"Sorry, Lena. He just hasn't been himself lately, but I'm sure he'll be better once the nerves have worn off." Smiling, Quatre looked up briefly as the P.A. announced that they could enter the auditorium. The two families filed in together, with their youngest members sitting on the laps of their parents. Tara and Amira continued to talk quietly, giggling as they sat next to each other.

"Girls, you have to keep quiet during the ceremony, alright? Don't disturb the other parents." Sitara nodded without turning back to her mother, but Relena knew she had heard. "And _you_," she said, bouncing Florian a bit, "need to shush too, okay? No flirting with Maimun." The little boy scrunched up his face and Trowa laughed quietly at the mirrored expression on his adoptive daughter's face.

_But you won't let me.  
You upset me girl,_

_And then you kiss my lips;  
all of a sudden I forget (that I was upset),  
can't remember what you did…_

"Mari," a familiar voice said, and the young woman felt her stomach fill with butterflies as she turned and saw her fiancé standing behind her. "You've been avoiding me."

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Mari responded. "How was I supposed to act, Alef? You lost your mind. I love you, but you lost your damn _mind_. I said I was _considering_ the offer, not that I was moving across the planet tomorrow!" She crossed her arms in front of her, shaking the tassel from her graduation cap out of her face. "'In case you've forgotten, I actually _love you_, and care about what you want. I guess I was stupid to expect the same."

Alef stared at her, stupefied, before looking down as his hands took hers. "I'm sorry, Mari. I really am. It was just a surprise… I didn't even know you had applied. You never told me about wanting to go to Harvard. I figured you'd just stick around here for post-grad, and keep working with Relena."

"Well, I thought about it, but Relena's a busy woman, and there's hundreds of other students waiting for my place. I've gotten enough experience to hold me for a while, no one's going to argue with someone saying they worked for the President for six years." She looked up at Alef and her eyes widened as he kissed her softly on the lips. The kiss deepened, and Mari loosed her hands from his, wrapping them both around his neck.

"Okay, you two," a friend chided, and the couple pulled apart, embarrassed.

"You should go, your spots much farther up the line," Mari said, and Alef sighed before agreeing. "We can talk about this later, babe. I love you."

"I know," he said, walking away. "I love you, too."

_And I hate how much I love you, boy  
I can't stand how much I need you  
And I hate how much I love you boy  
But I just can't let you go  
And I hate that I love you so._

"Hey, you okay?" a friend asked, and Mari looked back, impassive.

"I'm fine. Things are just… weird right now." She smiled slightly but gave up as she saw the knowing look on her friend's face. "I mean, I really, really want to take this opportunity. It's Harvard, for crying out loud. The rep for North America wants to take me on as an intern. It's the chance I've been waiting for, and he wants me to just give it up so he can stay here?" Mari shook her red curls about. "It's ridiculous. How much am I expected to sacrifice to make him happy?"

Her friend shook her head, unsure, as the announcer began calling names. "I dunno, Mar. If it's gonna change your life, I'd really think about it before changing your mind just because he says to. It's not like there's no doctor's offices in other continents, I'm pretty sure he'd be fine wherever he went. Besides, it's not too late for applications, he could get into med school there, easy. I heard he practically aced his entry exams."

"It's true. He's so smart… It's too bad he's just acting like a complete moron." The two girls laughed and continued their slow march up to the podium, watching as those before them shook hands with their deans and the university president. Mari watched as Alef took his degree and smiled proudly. It had been a long four years, but they had persevered and now everything they wanted was within their grasps. _I just wish we could both get what we want_…

"Hey, move up!' Someone shouted, and Mari jumped ahead in the line, startled temporarily. They were nearing the end of the ceremony now, and the redheaded girl approached the stairs leading up to the stage carefully, not wanting to trip over her gown as she stood in front of the crowd.

"Congratulations, Ms. Une," the president murmured, and Mari nodded her head politely before continuing on to her favorite professor, who was also the Dean of arts and her teacher of political sciences.

"Come here, you," the older man said, and Mari smiled as he pulled her into a tight hug. "Gosh, it's going to be annoying not having you around. Who's going to argue with me now?" He let the girl go and shook her hand. "Best of luck, dear. Keep in touch."

Finally, the ceremony was complete for Mari, and she filed into the seats with the rest of the graduates, nearly unable to believe that her time at the college was coming to a close. Speeches were made; awards were given out, with Mari receiving two for her work alongside her professors in political science and language arts. Alef was also awarded for his thesis project in biology, and Mari heard her mentor and his fathers cheering loudly the entirety of their appearances on stage. The typical cap toss was given, and the graduates were finally allowed out of the stifling auditorium.

"Well, what are your plans for the night?" Quatre asked the Yuys and the Commander as they waited for their new graduates.

"Not sure. Have you eaten yet? We should take them out." Une nodded, seemingly uninterested, but Relena ignored it. "There's that new Italian place down town, I've heard it's spectacular."

"That sounds great," Alef said, catching up with the families.

"Oh, where's Mari?" Une asked, and Alef shrugged.

"She said she'd catch up to us. I'll text her where we're going." He walked past the families and out of the building that housed the auditorium, neglecting to wait for them as they walked out to their cars.

_You completely know the power that you have,_

_The only one makes me laugh…_

"Hey! _Dammit, Maxwell, you're gonna pay!"_ Sitara shrieked, and the adults turned quickly in their seats to observe the suddenly escalated conflict.

"Aren't you glad you invited them?" Wufei asked, pointing a fork at Relena. The woman rolled her eyes and sighed, pushing away from the table to go check on the kids.

"Oh hush, Wufei. The kids are just having fun. Besides, look at them. It's so nice we have kids the same age, now they can all go to school together!" Sally smiled at Hilde.

"I know, I can't believe that the kids are starting kindergarten in the fall. It's almost scary! I can't believe they're almost all in the same class, too. What are the chances?"

"A lot better when your wife owns the school, eh, Yuy?" Duo said, elbowing his friend, who just rolled his eyes and continued eating. "Yeah, yeah, that's what I thought. Hey, what's going on with that project at Rosh-Tec anyways? I heard it's some pretty heavy stuff." The men all leaned in across the table, interested in Heero's work with the software company, while the women continued to eat, chatting about what they were going to buy their children for the new school year.

"Tara, what's going on?" Relena asked, and her daughter rounded on her heel, furious.

"Tell this punk to _leave me alone!_" she yelled again, pointing to a table where Relena presumed the elder Maxwell boy was hiding. "He keeps throwing crayons at me. Look!" Sitara raked her fingers through her dark hair angrily. "Cherries, from his stupid shirley temple!" The table thumped, and Sitara pounced. "Come outta there you coward! I'll skin you alive!"

Relena jumped forward as her daughter did, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Come on now, stop this. Go, go sit down right now. I'll deal with him." Sitara growled but did as she was told, sitting down next to Amira, who laughed at her and pulled another cherry from her hair. Relena sighed, leaning down next to the table. "Will, come out of there. She's not going to get you."

The boy laughed. "I know that!"

"Well then why are you hiding under there?" Relena knelt down lower to look beneath the table, and found the boy sitting under it, his hands full of mints. "Oh, come on. You'll have dessert when dinner's finished, now put those back. Come now, get out of there." She shooed Will back to the table as he scooted out, and she shook her head as he put the mints down next to Sitara's plate, saying what she assumed as an apology. Sitara looked at the boy, clearly still annoyed, but laughed after the boy said something else, the sound ringing throughout the restaurant like a clear bell.

"What was that about?" Hilde asked as the President retook her seat at the table.

"Oh, the usual," Relena took a deep swallow of her drink through a smile. "I swear, if they don't end up married, I'll retire."

_Said it's not fair  
how you take advantage of the fact_

_That I love you beyond the reason why,  
and it just ain't right…_

"I've been waiting for you," Alef said, and Mari jumped.

"Jesus, Alef. You scared me!" She held still as the young man pulled her into a hug outside the restaurant. "We should head in, isn't everyone waiting?"

"They can wait. This is more important." Alef took Mari's hand and lead her around to a sitting area off to the side of the entrance, gesturing for her to sit down. "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday," he started, and Mari nodded. "It was just a lot to take in, and it probably wasn't the best time to tell me. There's been a lot going on."

Mari frowned. "Well, it's not like you've told me anything. How was I supposed to know it was a bad time to tell you?"

"You could have asked!" The young man was exasperated now. "How was I supposed to expect hearing about you wanted to migrate freaking _continents_ by the end of the summer?"

"_You could have asked_!" Mari retorted, furious now. "You have no idea about _anything_ in my life! When was the last time you even asked me how my day is, hm? Do you even know what my favorite color is? For Christ's sake, Alef, you were my best friend once, and now I don't even know you." Mari began to walk away, and Alef stood up behind her.

"And whose fault is that? You're the one who's never around. All you do is constantly fawn after Relena like she's the second coming or something. Did it ever occur to you that maybe spending time with the man who wants to marry you could be a good idea?"

Mari didn't turn back to face her attacker, instead stopping before she spoke. "I have had a plan for my life before I even met you, Alef. I want to make a difference. I want to help people and lead people. If you can't live with that, then this isn't going to work." With that, Mari walked inside the restaurant, desperately blinking back tears, refusing to look back at the man whose heart she was sure she had broken.

_And I hate how much I love you girl,  
I can't stand how much I need you.  
And I hate how much I love you girl,  
But I just can't let you go…  
But I hate that I love you so._

Finally, the families departed the small restaurant, keeping all the children in tow. When Quatre had seen the look on Mari's face as she had joined them, he knew better than to ask where his nephew was hiding, and cautioned Trowa to just let it be. They hugged the others goodbye and continued home, each going to their respective place, having to pull the children away from each other to get them into their cars.

"Well, it was nice to see everyone, wasn't it?" Relena asked, and Florian laughed.

"Yeah! Look! Mai and me made this picture! It's a big dinosaur!" the boy continued his description, making growls and roars along the lines of what he was sure the animal must have sounded like, while Sitara turned on an interior light and began to read.

"You think everything's alright with the Changs? Sally seemed out of it," Heero observed, and Relena was a bit surprised he had paid much attention to the woman, spending most of his night answering questions about his new security project.

"I think Mai's been having problems. They've had to change her medications… apparently something is still going on with her heart. Sally's been really worried about it. Being a doctor with a sick child must be so hard…."

"I imagine it'd be like you when you watch local politics," Sitara said, still skimming over her novel. "You know what you're doing is helping people, but you feel powerless at home."

Relena turned and looked at her daughter, a bit bewildered by her abstract thinking. "Yes, I guess you're right. That's probably a lot like it."

Across town, Sally and Wufei drove home, the children deep asleep in their car-seats, oblivious. "Sally, you've got to just take her in. If there's something really wrong with her, she needs to stay in the hospital and get well."

Sally crossed her arms, staring out the passenger side window at the dark night's sky. "I just hate her being there, and she hates it to. She wants to be allowed to run and play like a normal child. She loves practicing with you in the morning, she even asked me this morning if we'd buy her a sword." Wufei looked at her out of the corner of his eye, surprised. "I'm not joking. She's five and she wants to be just like you, and I can't let her. I can't take her back to that hospital, it just stifles her. Every time she goes in she looks worse than before."

Wufei glanced at the little girl through his rear view mirror. She was beautiful, her dark hair falling smoothly about her face, her deep green eyes closed in slumber, long, dark lashes pressed against her skin. "Maybe they'll figure it out this time," he said, uncharacteristically optimistic. "And I wouldn't mind training her some more, if she thinks she's ready for it. I'll just have to take it easy."

Sally sighed. "Couldn't you spend more time with Li? I think he feels left out." Wufei shifted his gaze to the boy in question, confused.

"I'm sure it's fine. He doesn't even like martial arts."

The two adults sat in silence the rest of the ride, knowing they should feel the same for both children, but both secretly worrying adamantly over the safety and health of their little girl.

_One of these days maybe your magic won't affect me  
And your kiss won't make me weak  
But no one in this world knows me the way you know me  
So you'll probably always have a spell on me..._

__"Hey, you. Get in bed!" Heero shouted, and Florian Yuy looked over his shoulder in mock fear before taking off into his room, slamming the door behind him. "That's better," he murmured, turning back to his wife as they sat on the sofa, relaxing after their evening out.

"I'd love to know where he gets his energy. I don't think I can ever recall being that… awake," she said, stifling a heavy yawn.

"Oh, I can wake you up, I think." Heero smirked, kissing her from jaw to clavicle, savoring the taste of her skin.

"I'm sure you can, but maybe we should take this somewhere a little more private, hmm?" Relena stood up slowly, leading her husband to their bedroom upstairs. Once they entered the chamber, she loosed the tie on her robe, revealing a slinky negligee nightgown underneath. Heero sat up in bed and beckoned her toward him, and she easily complied, climbing into bed with him and wrapping her arms around him.

"I love you," she whispered between kisses.

"I love you, too."

_That's how much I love you._

_That's how much I need you.  
That's how much I love you.  
And I hate that I love you so…_

"Mom, I don't wanna go!" Mai struggled, pushing against her mother as the woman tried to wrestle her into the booster seat.

"Honey, I know, but you've got to. The doctors just want to do a few tests, okay?"

"No!" the little girl was howling now, angry. "Tell them to leave my blood alone!" Wufei winced, saddened by the sounds of terror and anger the little girl made as her belt finally clicked into place.

"It gonna be okay, Mai," Li said, breaking his usual silence. "I'm gonna be right there with you." The boy smiled cheerily at his twin sibling, taking her hand. "We'll get out of there and come home and play all we want." Mai nodded, agreeing with her brother's logic, and Wufei silently thanked the boy for knowing what to say.

"Alright, let's head out." The family drove to the hospital, the radio playing quietly in the background, the pop music grating against their solemnity. By the time they got to the hospital Mai was completely shut down, unreactive to her mother's touch as she took her out of the car seat and carried her into the child treatment center.

"Hello, lovely," the pediatrician said, holding her hands out to take the girl. "We'll have you back out here in a jiffy, okay? Li, are you going to come with us today?" The boy nodded, following after the doctor, leaving the parents to while away the time in the lobby.

"Alright, Mai, you know the drill. Hold your arm out for us, the needle's just gonna be a tiny pinch, okay?" The little girl hissed as the attending nurse drew her blood, but bit back her complaints as she watched her brother smiling at her.

"What?" she asked him harshly, angry he could smile at her pain.

"Look," Li pointed, and Mai spotted Florian peeking around the corner of the open treatment room door at them.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Mai asked, and the boy scampered into the room.

"Mom brought us all!" the boy said, followed closely by Maimun and the two Maxwell boys, Will and Caleb.

"Yep, we came to check in on ya, make sure everything's going okay. Your mom said you hate coming to the hospital, so we each brought you a surprise!" Will said, smiling warmly. The children each clambered around to present their surprises as the elder children waited, Amira, Sitara, Isra and Will making sure that the younger siblings didn't get in the way of the nurses or doctors.

Finally, Will went last, holding out a sheath of wrapping paper. "Now, be careful. It's not sharpened, so that you can use it for practice. Your dad told me you're thinking about learning, so I made this at my dad's shop." The girl tore into the wrapping paper, revealing a skillfully made short sword, gleaming even in the fluorescent light of the hospital.

"It's perfect," Mai said, taking hold of the handle. It was a tiny sword, built just for the tiny girl, and Will laughed slightly as she waved it around, scaring the nurses.

"Ooookay, how about we wait on the sword for a little bit, hmm?" The pediatrician shooed the children out, including Li, and they waited in the small hallway for their friend, sister and cousin to come out.

"This is the worst part," Li said, and they heart Mai shout at the nurses as they tried to complete the mystery procedure. "She always gets real mad."

The other kids nodded, saddened by the poor health of their playmate. "Well, don't worry about it too much, I'm sure she'll be fine!" Will said, trying to cheer up the little boy. Sitara stared at the dark-haired young man, admiring his ability to empathize with others, and the way his smile lit up a room. Will met her eyes, and, realizing she had been staring, the eldest child looked away quickly, embarrassed.

"Don't think I didn't see that," Amira said, elbowing her friend lightly and looking at her deviously.

"Oh, give me a break!" Sitara shouted, shoving her friend out of the way.

"Hey, now, Tara. Don't be violent," her mother chided, and the adults came down the hallway to meet them.

"What did Mai think of your surprise?" Relena asked, scooping her youngest boy up into her arms.

"You can ask her yourself," the doctor said, opening the door. "We're all finished for the day. The results will take a few days, so just tell Sally that Mai still needs to take it easy at home and to keep up with her low-salt diet." Relena nodded, and the doctor re-entered the treatment room, closing the door behind him.

"How are you doing, honey?" Relena asked the pale and frowning little girl, her dark hair obscuring part of her face.

"Tired," the girl whispered, and Relena knew the child felt more than just fatigue.

"Alright, we'll get you back to your mom right away, but first, I want a picture! Come on, line up a bit. Will, scoot over. You're tall enough, stand in the back then! Flo, crouch down a bit honey, you're blocking Li. Perfect. Alright, smile everyone!" Relena glowed as she snapped the shot, capturing the perfect moment, all of their children, together, supporting each other, and hoped that it would only be one of many to come.

_And I hate how much I love you boy.  
I can't stand how much I need you.  
And I hate how much I love you boy,  
But I just can't let you go,  
And I hate that I love you so…_

"Can I help you?" Heero asked, seeing the blond young man sitting at his kitchen table. He obviously startled the surprise visitor, as he whirled around in his chair.

"Uh, no, I guess not. I was hoping Mari might be here, but I guess she's probably with her mom… and I'm _so_ not going there." Alef stood up shakily, revealing an empty glass. "I guess I'll take off, then."

"You're not going anywhere walking like that," Heero replied, pushing the boy back down into his chair. "Stay here until you've sobered up. What the hell were you drinking, anyways? It's barely past noon."

Alef looked away, ashamed. "I'm really sorry. I'm just… this whole situation is screwed up. I really messed up." Heero sighed and took a seat before looking at the boy pointedly. "You really wanna hear about it?"

Heero rested his head on his hand. "No, not really, but you clearly want to talk about it, so go for it."

Alef took a deep breath and blurted out his story. "Mari wants to move to the Americas. She didn't even tell me she was applying, and now she blames me for not asking. I've already been asked to do my residency at a practice here, and my whole life is here, but she wants to just take off!" He took a breath, annoyed at Heero's lack of response. "I mean, what am I supposed to do, just take off with her for the sake of her perusing her dream? I get that she's been at this a long time, but it just doesn't feel like she cares about what this will do to me, you know?"

"Actually, I do." Heero shifted in his chair. "Relena barely talked to me about wanting to actually run for her position as President. As far as we had talked about it, it was just a temporary thing. Then I find out on the news she's put her name on the ballot. Things were rough, for a while, but you get used to the change. She's around less, sure, but she's doing what she loves." Alef nodded, staring at his empty cup. "You can do what you love anywhere you want. Helping people is helping people, I'm pretty sure they have hospitals in America. But Mari can only do what she wants, what she really wants, there. If she stays here, she'll resent you for it, and that's the last thing your relationship needs."

Alef looked at the older man now. "And do you ever resent Relena? For making that choice without you?"

Heero shook his head slowly. "No. I was mad about it for a while, but she made the right decision. I trusted her judgment, and now she's in her second term. She's home more, the kids are doing great, and we're talking again." He stood, ushering the young man out. "I'll call you a car to take you home. Sober up, think about what to say, and get over there before she gets really pissed off. I never knew her mother, but she's got the temper of her adoptive one, somehow."

Alef laughed, waving to Heero as he walked out to meet his car. "Thanks, Mr. Yuy. I owe you one."

"No problem, kid," Heero answered, watching as the car pulled away. Pulling out his phone, he dialed a quick number. When the voice on the other end answered, he spoke. "Hi, Mari, it's Heero. Alef's on his way. I told him to go home, but it's no use… Yeah, he was here looking for you, actually, but him and I had a talk instead… No. I think it's going to work itself out. He really cares about you, you know. I think he gets it, now… Don't thank me. Just don't be so hard on him. He's just a kid. Yep. Talk to you later."_  
_

_And I hate that I love you so…_


	7. Time to Dance

A/N: Well, this is another of my fics that is, too, winding down. This is the second to last chapter, meaning only one more and then I'll be putting this story to bed.

Enjoy, read and review!

-picimadar

**Time to Dance  
**

_Well, she's not bleeding on the ballroom floor  
just for the attention,  
'cause that's just ridiculously odd. _

Relena knew she had been hit long before she let the pain take over, driving her to the floor. All she could think about was her children, in those last few moments. Two decades at her job as Foreign Minister and President, thirteen years of marriage, seventeen years in the company of Sitara and eight with Florian, and she could only think of them. Her family.

"Trowa," he said, and he caught her as she fell, pushing his hand into the wound.

"Relena, stay with me. You're going to be fine." He pulled the microphone on his shoulder closer to his mouth. "The President's been hit. Get agents in here now, we need an ambulance. Back exit." Looking back to me, he kept me from staring down at the blood pouring out over my gown, or the faces of the onlookers who stared, shocked and curious, in between their bouts of running away and the screams of the more easily scared.

"It's not even that bad, Trowa. I'll be alright."

He rolled his eyes and refused to let her stand, running a hand behind her back and one under her knees. "Press the heel of your hand into your wound. Fuck, Heero is going to have my _ass_."

By the time they got to the ambulance, Heero was already there, waiting, along with their children. "What in the hell happened?"

"Not now, Heero," the wounded woman managed to croak out, and Sitara rolled her eyes.

"No. You go with them." Heero climbed into the ambulance after his wife, Trowa herding the children away carefully, Amira running up, her gown billowing behind her.

"Daddy's fine, he took Mai home. God, Tara…" She wrapped her arms around her best friend. Heero's daughter was a startling image of her father, her eyes harsh and cold, her arms crossed around her chest.

"Is mommy going to be okay?" Trowa patted Florian Yuy on the head carefully.

"She's going to be okay, I think. Come on, we'll get you guys to the hospital. Amira, you coming, or are you going with Wufei? None of you are allowed alone right now."

"We know the fucking procedure. Let's go." Sitara was in the front seat and buckled up before Trowa could think to take them home.

_Well, she sure is going to get it.  
Here's the setting:  
Fashion magazines line the walls now,  
The walls line the bullet holes…  
_

"Sitara, you can't go, and that's the end of the conversation."

"Fine!" The door slammed in Heero's face, and he flinched only slightly before turning on his heel and walking into his own bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

"She didn't take that too well, I assume." Relena was home again, finally, on bed rest after the surgery that had saved her life.

"I could care less, at this point. She endangers more than just herself by leaving, gallivanting around doing whatever she wants. She's smarter than this. She understands the situation. Even Flo does."

Relena sighed, putting down her reading glasses and book on the bedside table, wincing as she turned her torso to reach. "I wish he didn't have to. They're only children."

Heero sat on the bed and kissed his wife on the forehead. "So were we, and we turned out alright. We went through worse than this."

Settling back into the pillows, Relena sighed again, running a hand through her long blonde hair. "I don't want my children to live in fear."

"Florian will learn, Relena. It's an adjustment, but it wasn't as though we didn't expect the backlash. We caught the bastards who hurt you, but that doesn't mean it's all candy and rainbows."

"I know. I'll just be so happy when this is finally done. Just think; three years. Three more years and Mars will be finished."

"It's still a long time. I can't believe anyone would agree to that long a term. A year away from you was too much. Two almost killed me. I can't imagine being away for that long." Relena smiled, pressing a palm to Heero's face.

"Once the mission is finished, I can finally just relinquish Mars and be finished with it. You look exhausted, love. Go to sleep."

_Have some composure  
And where is your posture?  
Oh, no, no!  
You're pulling the trigger  
Pulling the trigger  
All wrong.._

"What do you mean, Relena wasn't their target? This is ridiculous. I'm not letting her walk into harm's way for you to test some harebrained theory!" Heero was agitated, pacing Commander Une's office, throwing glares at anyone to dared to break his attention for more than a few seconds.

"Heero, we're not wrong."

"Yes you a—"

"No, we're fucking not! Just sit down and stop moving, you're making me insane!" Wufei got into the other man's face, both tied up in a battle of wills before Heero finally conceded, sitting down in his chair.

"It makes no goddamn sense. What could anyone want with Tara? She's seventeen. She doesn't know anything besides what movies are popular and how she should wear her hair."

"Heero, you can't seriously believe that." Alef Winner-Campbell looked over at the older man, speaking quietly, knowing better than to provoke the man's nearly unstoppable rage. It had been the reason the investigation into Relena's attack had lasted mere days, and why none of the perpetrators had been able to walk to the Preventer headquarters after being apprehended.

"Alef's right. She's not stupid. She knows just about anything you could ask her about, which would no doubt be helpful to anyone wanting more information on Mars. You're married to Relena Darlian, Heero. You had to know sometime that your children could become targets."

Heero continued to stare at his feet, fuming. "It doesn't make it okay. How am I supposed to protect them, put them on house arrest? We wouldn't last ten days before Tara would murder us in our sleep just to get outside. I want their lives to be normal."

"You're joking, right?" Heero glared at Wufei, who started back at him, unshakable. "They're the children of the President. They can't expect to live normal lives. That's reality. You either need to teach your kids some life lessons, or hide them away somewhere in the Caribbean for a few years. Your choice."

"Enough, both of you." Une took control of the conversation, folding her hands in front of herself. "In essence, Chang is right. While your children cannot expect to lead what may be a normal life, they _can_ expect a level of freedom and security. Preventer will watch over your family as best we can, Yuy. Now get out of my office.

_Give me envy, give me malice, give me your attention  
Give me envy, give me malice, baby, give me a break!_

By the time Heero got home, he knew he was dead meat. "Please, for god's sake! It's the _mall_, not a casino, not the airport, the _mall_. I want to go. I'm going to go."

"Tara, give it up, please." Heero recognized the voice of the young Will Maxwell and sighed with relief. "Come on. Just come have dinner. You're being unreasonable."

"Oh, stop the goddamn presses, I'm getting advice on reason from a fucking Maxwell." Heero heard Will call after his daughter, but both knew it would be a futile effort.

"Hi, Mr. Yuy," the boy said, having caught the 'polite' gene from his mother.

"You don't have to call me that," Heero said in response, shrugging off a jacket and handing it to the doorman. "Your dad here?"

"Yeah, he was the one assigned for house duty today. What happened with the meeting?"

Heero looked down at the boy, taking in his dark hair and violet eyes carefully, considering the fact that they were only a year older than Will was when they were fighting in Gundams. Shaking his head, he walked further into his home.

"Not much. Nothing good. Can you go and find Tara and bring her down for dinner, please? Get Flo on the way down, too. Thanks, Will." The boy nodded and jogged up the stairs while Heero walked into the family dining room, throwing himself into a chair.

"We have to take them away, don't we?"

"At least for a little while. Soon enough they'll be out of school. No one will even notice they'll be gone."

"What are you talking about, gone?" Heero hadn't had time to brace himself and he turned slowly, looking at his angry teenaged daughter as though she were a force of nature. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You don't get a choice."

"The fuck I don't! This isn't fair! I wanted to graduate here. All my friends are here, the people I care about!" Florian simply looked back and forth between his parents and his sister, bewildered, before pulling himself up onto a chair at the table and putting his head in his hands.

"We have to move? I don't even want to move…"

"It's not permanently, remember." Relena tried to soothe her children, and it seemed to work on Florian, who smiled quietly at his mother before thanking the chef, who put his dinner in front of him quietly.

"That's what you always say." Turning on her heel, Sitara left the room, her long, dark brown hair swinging behind her as she ran.

"Should I go after her?" Will asked, and Heero shook his head.

"Probably better you don't, kiddo. Amira's upstairs waiting for her already, anyhow. Let's eat." Duo sat down near to Relena, giving her a half-hug with one arm, waving to Florian, who waved back shyly.

"She took that better than I thought she would. Think you'll be able to talk her into it?"

Heero looked at Relena, and they both sighed and shook their heads. "Unless you make it seem like her idea, she won't go for it."

Duo laughed, startling Florian and his mother briefly. "Can't imagine where she got that from."

_When I say "Shotgun", you say "Wedding"  
"Shotgun", "Wedding", "Shotgun", "Wedding" _

"Amira? What the hell? I thought you were at home." Sitara wiped her eyes furiously, shutting her bedroom door behind her. "Hey, what's going on? What's wrong?" Though she took after her father, Sitara was much more empathetic than the older man, and she sat down next to her childhood friend on the edge of her bed.

"Tara, you first. What's going on with your mom?"

"I don't know. Since the incident everyone's just freaking out. They think that the guys were after me and Flo, not my mom. They think they can use us to strong-arm my mom into giving back Mars, or some stupid shit."

Sniffling, Amira, wiped her nose. "Don't you think that's scary?"

"Nah. It'd never work. Dad would freak out and come to our rescue way before mom would get played around by some assholes. They've been through worse and been fine. I mean… I don't want to leave."

"Oh, god. You can't leave! I don't want you to go… You can't go."

Sitara sighed, tucking a lock of hair behind her friend's ear. "You'll be fine, silly. If I do go, it'll only be for a little while, just like they said."

Amira narrowed here eyes, panicking slightly. "I hate it when you get that look on your face. What are you going to do, Tara? Tell me!"

"I can't, Mira. But I love you. All of you guys. Lots."

_She didn't choose this role  
But she'll play it and make it sincere  
So you cry, you cry  
(Give me a break)_

"You're sure you're ready for this? No one would think less of you if you wanted to stay away, Relena."

"No, Quatre. Staying away just shows people like them that they can win. That they can scare me off my job. I'm ready to go back, regardless. Sally approved me 'fit for duty' last week." Smiling, she hoped that the façade was enough to please the blonde man, who looked back at her, staring right through her.

"You can't fool me with all that. Relena, you're still upset about this. Even if you keep it to yourself, I can feel it down to my toes just from looking at you." He took the woman's hand, enjoying the smooth ride of the limo along with her. "Talk to me."

She stared out the window, avoiding his penetrating stare. "I'm so afraid for her, Quatre."

"Tara?"

"Of course. She's so young, but she acts like she's one-hundred-and-five. And Will just follows her around like a puppy… Thank god he's so young."

"You really think she feels for him that way?"

She shook her head, shrugging. "I've no idea. Sometimes it seems like it, but again, he's so young." She scoffed slightly, almost laughing. "Fourteen. At fourteen you were fighting in the War. I was Foreign Minister at younger than Tara is now. I was pregnant with her at eighteen, and we're still so obsessed with how young they are."

"I know. I worry about Amira, sometimes, too."

"Oh? She's such a sweet girl, though. She knows better than to get into trouble."

"I hope so. We raised them right, Relena. It'll all be alright."

_But they believe it from the tears  
And the teeth right down to the blood at her feet  
Boys will be boys  
Hiding in estrogen and wearing Aubergine dreams  
(Give me a break) _

"Mr. Yuy, can you pass me the milk?"

"If you'd quit calling me that, I'll do whatever the hell you want." Will visibly flinched, and Heero regretted being so sharp. "Sorry, but seriously. Just call me Heero. Tara calls your dad 'uncle'."

"She calls everyone 'uncle'. I'm not her cousin." The boy was surprisingly adamant, glaring into his pancakes.

"I know that. It's just the sentiment, kid." Heero continued to stare at the boy, curious. "Why would that matter?"

"It just does."

"It matters 'cause he's got a crush on Tara the size of Manhattan." Amira smiled, shifting into a seat next to the object of her teasing tone.

"Leave me alone, Mira."

"Aww, look, he blushes just like his daddy." Taking her knife and fork, Amira dug into a pile of pancakes heartily.

"Are you serious?" Heero cocked one eyebrow up, looking over Will with renewed interest. "She's three years older than you."

"So what? Oh, my god…."

"See? You admitted it! Oh, man. You're never living this down, period!" Will rolled his eyes, pushing away from the table and wandering off into the massive home. "I wouldn't worry about it, unc'. Tara's way too focused on school to worry about guys." She was staring at her plate now, the light gone from her eyes, her expression blank, if not depressive. "She's lucky."

Have some composure,  
where is your posture?  
Oh, no, no!  
You're pulling the trigger,  
Pulling the trigger  
All wrong…

"Where is she?" Relena was angry, storming down the stairs and into her living room. The woman was disheveled, her hair held back loosely, still in her robe, barefooted. Heero had to shake his head before answering her.

"Who?"

"Tara. She's not in her room or her bathroom. I can't find her anywhere. Where is she?"

"Oh, god," Amira said, and the two parents looked at her.

"Spit it out, Amira. _Now_." Relena advanced on the young woman, who backed away carefully.

"I-I don't know! She just said she agreed with you last night and that she'd be going away for a while, that's it!" Relena almost screamed in frustration, grabbing a portable phone off the table and dialing out.

"It's not your fault, Amira. Go find Will. I have a feeling we'll be leaving shortly."

"Duo? Yes, I know the launch is today. We were just getting ready… Well, I slept in! God forbid… Yes. We're coming now. Find her." Relena hung up the phone and Heero could tell she was fighting not to throw it through a window.

"Relax, Lena. We'll find her. She probably just took off to Sally's or something. Let's go." Within half an hour their motley crew was into an armored car and heading into Brusells, hoping they could catch up with not only their daughter but with the ceremonies for the final launch to Mars.

"Letting her get her driver's license was a mistake." Relena was almost sulking, but Heero could tell it was an act.

"Just relax. She's a smart girl. I'm telling you, she'll be fine." The rest of the drive was filled with terse silence, Will unhappily wedged between Florian and Amira, his current nemesis. Surprisingly quiet, Heero guessed the older children must grasp the gravity of the situation, and he silently thanked them for not further aggravating his wife, who would barely sit still next to him.

Relena's phone rang, breaking the silence, and she answered it with an irritated "What? Yes, I know. It's fine. Honestly, Quatre, I could care less. Yes, it's Tara, who else? Just help find her and get off the phone." Hanging up, Relena pressed her head against her hand, her elbow against the window. "She's not with Sally or with Trowa. Where in the hell could she have gone?"

"I don't know. Relena. Une messaged me before we left, she said she's got all the ports covered. She won't get far, if that's what she's trying for."

"You think she'd run away?" Will's voice was quiet, but Heero could hear the worry, looking back at the boy in the rear-view mirror.

"I don't know, Will. We're going to find her either way." They got to the spaceport and Relena practically flew out of the car, blowing past the press and questioning Duo and Trowa harshly. Heero watched them both visibly flinch under the force of her words, watching her eventually lose her strength and paling. Heero didn't realize he'd completely ignored the questions the press hurled at him until they stated adding up with his wife's reaction.

_Come on this is screaming, "Photo op".  
Come on,  
This is screaming,  
this is screaming,  
this is screaming "Photo op."  
_

"Mr. Yuy, were you aware that your daughter was part of the latest mission to Mars? Did you offer your consent for this journey? Are you going to cancel the mission considering this news?" Bombarded, Heero pushed through the crowd, taking Florian's hand and pulling him close, herding Will and Amira away and through the line of guards, away from the media frenzy.

"Relena, what the hell.."

"Heero, she left! She's gone. She took off!" Hysterical, Relena fell into her husband's arms, dragging him to the ground, weeping. "She's gone."

"Well, we can bring her back. It'll be okay. Shush. It'll be fine."

"It will not! Are you deaf? She's _gone_." Heero tried to pull the woman up, waving Duo over to help him while Trowa took the kids, leading them into the nearby building quietly, though Heero could hear their questions and worries. "Relena, come on. Don't give them a reason to talk. Up. Get up." Eventually she stood shakily, allowing the two men to take her, each on one arm, guiding her into the port building.

Preventer was already crawling the place, agents everywhere. "Yuy. I'm so sorry… She stowed away. There's still time to bring the ship back."

"No," a voice said behind him, and Heero watched his tearstained wife straighten herself. "We're not bringing her back. You can get ahold of the shuttle and she can talk to us, but that's it. I've spent too much on this mission to turn it around because of one selfish idiot, be it my own goddamn child or not."

"You're sure about that?"

"Absolutely."

"Fine. We'll get the shuttle on the line as soon as possible."

_Boys will be boys, baby  
Boys will be boys  
Boys will be boys, baby  
Boys will be boys.._

"Miss Yuy, they want to talk to you." Within a few moments the young woman parked herself in front of the video-communications camera, smiling.

"Hey, mama." Throwing her long hair over one shoulder, Sitara Yuy continued to smile, and Relena wasn't having any of it.

"What in the hell is your problem?" Tara cocked her head to the side, unruffled by her mother's anger.

"My problem is I didn't want to die, and I sure as hell didn't want to go live in South America. This was a logical solution."

"Please, explain to me what part of this is logical. You did this on purpose? What were you thinking?" Heero put a hand on his wife's arm, urging her to keep calm.

"The problem you've been having isn't over Florian, it's over me. I'm the smart one." She looked to her brother. "No offense, kid." He rolled his eyes but said nothing, standing next to his mother quietly. "If I'm out of the picture, you've got nothing to worry about. You can stay where you are, let Flo go to school where he wants, and no worries. I can get my degree here, get some practical experience, and by the time I get back dad and the uncle's will have kicked enough ass that we'll all be safe." She paused, her blue eyes rolling up toward the ceiling. "See? It just makes sense. Besides, none of us have seen Mars but Dad. I'll send pictures."

"You've lost your mind. She's lost her mind! Tell her!" Relena looked at Heero imploringly, clearly needful of some parental backup. Unfortunately, she had looked to the wrong place.

"She's right, Relena. We can't bring her back now, regardless, and we've checked and rechecked everyone on that planet. No one is going to hurt her."

"It's three years!"

"Three years?" For the first time Will and Amira agreed, their unison voices betraying their loss.

"Oh, come on, guys. It's not even that long. Besides, when I get back, we'll all be legal, and we're gonna have the best 'welcome-back' party the world's ever seen."

Give me envy, give me malice, give me your attention  
Give me envy, give me malice, baby, give me a break!  
When I say "Shotgun", you say "Wedding"  
"Shotgun", "Wedding", "Shotgun", "Wedding"

By the time everyone arrived back in Sanq, the family was a disaster. Relena had yet to say a word to anyone, lost in her own world, her own son unable to rouse a response from her. Heero had carried him to bed, leaving Will to fend for himself until his parents could get him in the morning, Amira climbing upstairs to sleep in Tara's room.

Just as she was getting ready for bed, Amira heard a light knock on the door. "Amira? It's me. Can I come in?"

"Sure, Auntie," the girl replied, putting her hairbrush down and pulling a nightgown on.

"Sorry to bother you, sweetie. I just wanted to see what she took… oh, of course she packed him."

"What, Leo?" Crossing to the bed, Amira sat down, curling her feet under her. "Yeah. I thought she would, too."

Relena smiled slightly before turning away from the younger girl. "Well, sorry to have bothered you, honey. Get some sleep." As she went to close the door, the young girl stopped her.

"Auntie, wait!" Relena paused, looking back at the girl over her shoulder. "Please, there's something I need to talk to you about… I was gonna talk to Tara about it, but now she's gone and I really, really don't want to talk to my dads…"

"I'm here for anything you need, honey. Is this about that boy you've been seeing?" Relena sat down on the edge of the bed quietly, taking the younger girl's hand. "Is something wrong? Did he hurt you?"

"No, Auntie, nothing like that. I just… I did something really stupid." The girl started to cry, giant, pearly tears running down her cheeks. "Auntie, I'm pregnant."

_Boys will be boys  
Hiding in estrogen and boys will be boys  
Boys will be boys  
Hiding in estrogen and wearing Aubergine dreams_


	8. Somewhere Only We Know

A/N: OMG full circle! Well, this is the last part of my little family fic for whoever's still reading. Hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I loved writing it.

-picimadar

**Somewhere Only We Know**

_I walked across an empty land  
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand  
I felt the earth beneath my feet  
Sat by the river and it made me complete  
_

"Oh my god. We're home. We're home!" The shuttle grounded, causing the rest of the passengers to groan. The flight had taken weeks, the mission years, and though they were all eager to be back home on the Earth or ready to head to the Colonies, they knew the adjustment would take weeks, at the least.

Not Sitara. Within minutes she was off the shuttle and on the ground, stretching in her skin-tight spacesuit before looking for her family. "Where you think your family's at?" A friend asked her, and Tara smiled behind her sunglasses. "Look for the most goddamn cameras. That's where they'll be." She patted the young man on the back before walking off. "Ciao."

By the time she got to the gate, the port was a flurry of running children greeting their fathers, husbands and wives or girlfriends reuniting with their families, happy and glowing, towing bags or giving souvenirs, 'Mars rocks' and the like. Tara couldn't help but smile, hoping that her family would be there to meet her as well. She knew she had left suddenly, abandoning her family, losing contact with some of her best friends, but in the end she had kept them safe.

As she was about to reach the front door, Sitara Yuy realized that her family may actually still be angry with her, as they were nowhere to be found. She'd expected some kind of backlash, but after three years, how could they hold a grudge? Sighing, the young woman pushed open the front door, and there stood her mother, pulling it the opposite way.

"Oh my god, Tara!" Relena went to throw her arms over her daughter's and found, uncomfortably, that she girl was now taller than her, hugging her and smiling brightly.

"Hey, mama," the girl said, kissing both Relena's cheeks. "How are you? Where's dad and Flo? Sorry I couldn't call during the trip, you know how the stupid communications are… God. I missed you." Relena hadn't expected the sentiment, giving her daughter another startled hug before pulling her outside.

"You ready to come back to the real world?"

"Definitely."

_Oh simple thing, where have you gone?  
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on,  
So tell me when you're gonna let me in?  
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin…_

"Oh, wow," Tara said, putting her bag down at the door. "I forgot how damn huge this place is. I'm bigger. Why does it seem bigger?" A porter took her bag, and Relena followed her daughter into the house, waiting for her son and husband to join them.

"Holy shit, look at you!" Running over to her brother, Tara grabbed the boy, swinging him around as she hugged him to herself.

"Hey, put me down! Come on! Ugh, gross!" Rubbing in a kiss on his cheek, the young boy stood almost shoulder level to his sister.

"When'd you get tall, huh?"

"I dunno. Since we both caught whatever freak gene that made us taller than mom." Relena scoffed quietly, looking around the corner as her husband came into view.

"Daddy…" Tara looked at her dad carefully, and Relena couldn't believe the similarities between the two of them. It was like watching two feral cats meeting, unsure of whether or not to be friendly or strike.

"Come here, Tara," Heero finally said, holding his arms out, and the now twenty-year-old girl acted as she once had years ago, running to her father and throwing her arms around him. Relena could have sworn she saw the shininess of tears in her husband's eyes, but they were quickly blinked back. Tara, too, blinked furiously as she turned away from her father back to the two more openly sensitive members of her family.

"I missed you guys. I'm so sorry. It was such a long time…"

"We know, honey. You're back now, though, and you can tell us all about it. We talked often enough, but there's only so much you can get through fifteen minutes every other week. Talk to us. Tell us all about your trip."

_And if you have a minute why don't we go  
Talk about it somewhere only we know?  
This could be the end of everything  
So, why don't we go  
Somewhere only we know?_

"We haven't changed much since you left it. If you need anything, just come get us, okay?"

"Mom, I'm not seven. Despite the rumors, time on Mars neither slows nor undoes the aging process." Tara stood on the other side of the door, giving her mother a half smile. "Go to bed. I'll still be here when you wake up." That seemed to be the reassurance Relena needed, and she closed the door behind her, going back to her room. Tara continued to stand by the door until she was satisfied her mother had truly left and ran over to her room, silently slipped it open and scaled down the side of the palace, disappearing into the night.

It was almost frighteningly easy for Tara to slip away, taking the keys to her old car, parked where she had left it three years before, and driving off out of the city. It had also been easy to find where her best and oldest friend, Amira Campbell-Winner, had been hiding away these past three years. The two had exchanged the odd, infrequent email, and in truth Tara feared losing the girl's friendship. Pulling into the unit of houses, the brunette girl looked around, realizing how late it really was. _Eleven-thirty… Maybe she'll still be up_.

Sure enough, when Tara finally found unit thirty-four the lights were still on, shadows moving behind drawn curtains.

"Well, Yuy, here we go. Come on, man up." Despite trying to reassure herself, Sitara was more nervous than she'd felt in years and she took one last deep breath, pushed open the car door, threw it closed behind her, bounded up the from stair and pushed the doorbell. A young man answered it warily.

"Can I help you?"

"Camden? Camden Carter? What… Okay, whatever. I'm here to see Amira. Does she live here?"

Looking her over curiously, the man closed the door and called. "Mira, door for you. Just come see." Turning back to Sitara, he shook his head at her. "You've missed a lot."

Sitara had no clue how true that was until Amira finally did answer the door, her two-year-old daughter in her arms.

"Oh… oh my god." Tara stepped back slightly, letting the two of them come out onto the porch. "Holy shit, Amira… why didn't you tell me? She's beautiful…"

"I tried, Tara. Every time I did you were literally off on some other planet. You left, and you didn't even say goodbye." Amira shifted the little girl in her arms carefully.

"You knew why I couldn't. I left to keep you guys safe! Mira, please. I want to talk to you… Can't I just come in?"

Amira frowned, tears welling up in her eyes. "No, Tara, you can't. You left. You can't just walk back into people's lives after three years of barely speaking to them and expect it to be like old times." Just as she went to close the screen door behind her, Amira sighed. "Things have changed, Tara. Maybe we could have coffee sometime."

With that, Sitara Yuy stood, stunned as the door closed on her, shutting her friend and their family out of her life. Walking back to her car the girl climbed into the driver's seat, turned on the ignition and drove, tears sliding silently down her face the whole ride home.

_I came across a fallen tree  
I felt the branches of it looking at me  
Is this the place we used to love?  
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?_

"I have a feeling that didn't go well," Relena said.

"What are you talking about?" Heero ate a spoonful of cereal, chewing as he pondered the look on his wife's face carefully.

"She hasn't come down yet. I think she went to see Amira last night. Should we have told her?"

"I don't think so. There's some things she's just gonna have to figure out on her own."

"Can't you talk to her, Heero?" Relena took her husband's hand with hers, squeezing it carefully.

"Me? Why?" Introspection and emotion had never been the former pilot's strong points, and he wasn't about to go and force his daughter to endure some awkward questioning.

"Because you've been where she is, before. You know exactly what she's going through. Please, just talk to her. Go get her." Relena's pleading became less like a call for help and more like a demand the longer Heero stayed. Sighing, he took one last bite of his breakfast before climbing the stairs, hi-fiving his son on the way up.

"Tara, can I come in?" Heero was about to knock again before his daughter answered, her voice shaky, and he opened the door. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She was still in the clothes she'd worn the day before, her hair knotted and tousled, hanging over one shoulder as she sat on the edge of her bed.

"See, you're a lot like me, and that makes this a problem." Sitting down on the bed, Heero couldn't help but feel the nostalgia wash over him, including the feelings of loss and missed moments he knew his daughter was now feeling as well. "It means that since I can't lie worth shit, you can't either." His daughter looked at him through his eyes, and Heero sighed. "I'm not good at this crap, so why don't I just tell you what you _can_ do, assuming how you feel?"

"Fine."

"Amira's angry, and she has a right to be. You took off, and there were misunderstandings. She probably needed you, and you weren't there. The only thing you can do, now, is just be here for her."

"Is that what you did with mom?" Her tears had dried more, now and Sitara felt safe enough asking the questions that had burned in her mind since her father had finally married her mother, years before.

"Mostly. I didn't know about you, you know. If I'd known… It would have been completely different. I would have dropped everything for her."

"I know. Was she mad at you ever, when you came back?"

"Sometimes. She'd had to go through a lot alone, and our relationship before I found out about you was… strange. It worked, but it wasn't what either of us wanted. That was my fault, and she blamed me for that."

"I see. I guess that's what happened with Amira, then." She leaned closer to her father, putting her head against his shoulder. "I just feel like… I mean, I didn't _want_ to go. Well, I did. It was awesome. Why you came back, I'll honestly never know." Moving away, Sitara swung her feet up onto the bed and laid back, her head at the foot of the mattress. "Life here is insane."

Heero laughed quietly, patting his daughter on the leg. "It gets easier." A thought occurred to him, and he ran with it. "Have you been down to the grove, lately?"

"Nah, not since I was a kid. Why?"

"You and Will used to love that place. I think you should go back." Heero stood, walking to the door. "I learned more there about myself and my family than I ever did anywhere else."

_Oh simple thing, where have you gone?  
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on.  
So, tell me when you gonna let me in?  
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin._

"Is she here? Where is she?" Will Maxwell barreled into the Darlian-Yuy home with little to no fanfare, save for a brief warning from the doorman that his car had been seen taking the driveway at violent speeds.

"You just missed her, Will." The boy practically left skid marks on the floor as he stopped, wheeling around to where he'd heard the sound of Heero's voice.

"Well, where'd she go? Is she far? When'd she leave?"

"Will, calm down. Take a drink of something, you look like you haven't slept all week." Relena offered the boy a glass of juice, which he flatly refused. "What's going on with you, hm?"

"I just need to see her. Please, just tell me where she is." The two parents exchanged glances slowly, and Heero eyed the eldest Maxwell son warily.

"What's so important about finding her this time, hm? She'll come back to the house by dinner, you can talk to her then."

"No! Just tell me where she is, or I'm going out there and hunting her down myself. I'm not letting her just get away from me again." He stopped cold, his jaw dropping at himself momentarily before his expression grew stony, his hand clenching into a fist.

"And what, exactly, are you going to do about that?"

"Mr. Yuy, I want to marry your daughter."

Heero almost choked on his coffee, burning his tongue, while Relena stared at both him and Will, completely placid. "Are you kidding me? You're 17."

"Your point?"

"You're a child. Tara's 20, and she just got back to this planet. You're not marrying her."

"I think that's for her to say, isn't it? I wasn't asking your permission." Relena exhaled forcefully behind her hand, covering up something between a laugh and sheer shock.

"Listen, you little punk." Heero stood up from the table, walking up to the boy. Though he'd expected to stand over him, for some reason Will Maxwell now stood a good two inches taller than him.

"Heero, enough." Relena came up and put her hand on her husband's shoulder. "It's her choice. I think it's an excellent idea for you to ask, Will, but consider the fact that she's still adjusting to life on Earth, again." She kissed the boy on the cheek, and he blushed slightly. "Good luck."

Will took off out the back bay doors, leaving the older couple standing in the living room. "When did that happen?" was all Heero could manage to choke out before falling back into his chair.

"Oh, I don't know. Years pass, these things happen. At her age, we were married, and at his Duo and Hilde were living together. Don't forget that. We're not the only ones who grew up before our time."

_So if you have a minute why don't we go_  
_Talk about it somewhere only we know?_  
_This could be the end of everything_  
_So why don't we go_  
_So why don't we go_

The grove was a long way from the mansion, but Tara was glad for the time alone. It had been years since she'd made the trek down the overgrown path down to that clearing, and she longed to see it again. All along the way she passed trees she knew were meant for someone, passing the one meant for her mother, her uncle, her brother, and her own. Finally, she reached the clearing and sat down gratefully, letting the cool grass calm her pulse. The gravity of Earth was different than exercising in the simulated conditions on Mars, and Tara knew her legs would be sore the next day, especially after the hike back.

Birds flew overhead, and Sitara watched them with a strange, outsider's kind of fascination, as though she were seeing things, truly feeling them for the first time. Grass under her back, trees overhead, blue sky peeking out behind the dense leaves on the trees; family wasn't the only thing she'd missed when she'd left the Earth.

They certainly weren't the only people she'd missed, either. Amira had been angry; a burning letdown Tara wasn't quite ready to approach again, and the thought of confronting or reuniting with any of the others terrified her. Rolling onto her belly, Tara groaned, letting her head fall against her hands, practically burying her nose into the moist soil below.

"Trip back was that bad, huh?" As though her fears had manifested themselves before her, Tara knew it was none other than Will Maxwell who had interrupted her introspection.

"I guess you could say that." By the time she'd rolled back over, Will was staring down at her, smiling. "How you doin'?" His laugh was easy, just like his father's, and Tara was instantly comforted by the sound.

"Been better. Went to see Amira…. She was pretty pissed. Basically told me I'd been out of her life too long to belong in it anymore." Will could hear the pain in his love's voice more than he could see it in her face, and he sat down next to her, shimmying down and staring at the sky. "Do you feel that way?"

"Well, that's a loaded question. No, I don't, but I can see how she would feel that way. You did just kind of take off, and you two didn't talk a lot while you were away." Will reached over and took Tara's hand tentatively. "I'm glad that didn't happen with us."

"Me, too. I talked to you more than my mom. Don't tell her that, though." She squeeze his hand, making his heart race and driving a flush into his cheeks. "Hey. What's up with you? I didn't even get a hug or anything."

Will swallowed hard, sitting up, and Tara followed. "Tara… I have to know something. Do you love me?"

"Of course I do. You're like… my best friend."

Will sighed, running a hand through his short hair. "I didn't mean it like that… I love you, Tara." He looked at her, violet eyes meeting blue, unspoken feelings brewing beneath the surface of each gaze. "I love you more than anything. I have for a long time. I know why you had to go away, but I don't want you to go again. Ever."

Tara closed the space between them, kissing Will on the mouth passionately, driving both of them back onto the ground, pulling him on top of her. "I love you, too, Will. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Well, mostly because you would have gone to prison," he answered, grinning. "But also because you scare me shitless. You're something else, Tara Yuy."

"Thanks? I think…" The two of them laughed in between kisses before they ended up lying side by side again. "So. Was there a point to that whole speech, or was it really just that you want me to stay?"

"I want you to stay here with me. You've got your degree and I'll be half done mine next year, we could get a place in the city or move away someplace. I wouldn't mind transferring." He shifted, running an arm under Tara's neck carefully, playing with her long brown hair. "I love you, Tara. I want you to marry me."

"Jesus, Will." Tara laughed slightly, covering her face with her hands. "This is sure some homecoming." Taking her hands down slowly, she took Will's collar and kissed him again. "I'll marry you sometime, Will. Give me a few years. Get your degree. I'll move in with you, though my dad may beat the hell out of you."

"I wouldn't worry about it. I think he's still recovering from earlier."

"Earlier?"

"It's a long, long story." Standing, Will pulled Tara up to her feet. "Now, I think you said something a while back about some celebratory partying… and it looks like we have plenty to celebrate."

_This could be the end of everything_  
_So why don't we go_  
_Somewhere only we know?_

_Fin._


End file.
